Marine’s Apparent Suicide Follows Abduction and Rape of Woman
A 23-year-old Marine corporal apparently shot himself to death in his apartment here Friday after abducting another Marine’s wife from her home on the Camp Pendleton Marine base and raping her, military officials said.
Police found the body of Cpl. Stephen P. Young, who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, in his apartment at 11 a.m., with a rifle and a note nearby, a Marine spokesman said. He had no information about the note’s contents.
Garden Grove Police Sgt. Dan Lyons said police were treating the death as a suicide but declined to elaborate.
Hartman Slate, Marine chief warrant officer, said Young apparently abducted the woman from her home on base while her husband, who is also stationed at Camp Pendleton, was away. Slate said the couple had children but they were not abducted or hurt.
After the rape, which apparently occurred on base, the woman escaped from Young’s car, Slate said. She was taken to a naval hospital at Camp Pendleton for treatment.
Police said Young had a girlfriend who lives in Garden Grove. His parents are divorced and his mother lives in Ohio, coroner’s officials said.
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