Kidnaped Real Estate Agent Is Found in Arizona

A Val Verde real estate agent abducted Wednesday was found tied up in an Arizona motel room Friday morning after a maid heard her cries and summoned help, witnesses and authorities said.

Paula Harrington, 26, disappeared after showing several homes in the small Santa Clarita Valley community to an unidentified male customer Wednesday afternoon.

She was locked in Room 8 of the El Coronado Motel in Gila Bend about 10 a.m. when she was discovered tied up and fully clothed on the bed, said motel manager Vinaykent Patel.

“She said: ‘I’m tied up and I can’t open the door, call the police,’ ” said Patel, who was brought to the room by a maid who heard the woman’s cries.

About the same time, the kidnaper called Harrington’s office to reveal where she was, authorities said.

The abductor, described as white and in his 40s, is still at large, authorities said. He left the motel before Harrington was discovered, Patel said.

Jack Callahan, an FBI spokesman, said late Friday that Harrington had been assaulted. The FBI was investigating the case because the kidnaper crossed the state line.

DeAnne Tippetts, owner of the Century 21 office near Santa Clarita where Harrington worked, said she accepted a collect call about 10:30 a.m. Friday from a man who did not identify himself.

She said the man told her Harrington was unharmed in a motel room in Gila Bend, a town of 1,747 people about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix.

“I was just in shock,” Tippetts said. “I hoped it was real and I was elated at the thought she might be all right.”

The call was brief and the man spoke calmly, trying to make sure she got the location right, Tippetts added.

Tippetts said she called 911, and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies alerted other authorities. Harrington was taken to a Phoenix hospital for observation and questioning by police, said relatives of Harrington who had flown to Arizona to be with her.

Harrington’s husband, Chris, who also flew to Arizona on Friday afternoon said he expects her to be able to return home today.

“I’m overwhelmed, ecstatic, grateful--everything rolled up into one,” he said in an impromptu news conference on the porch of his home shortly after learning his wife was safe Friday morning.

He said that he spoke to her briefly on the phone and that she seemed to be in good spirits.

She did not discuss in detail what had happened, he added.

Residents of Val Verde, population 1,500, were thrilled that Harrington had been found. Many had helped search for her in the hills surrounding their community, which is about 10 miles northwest of Santa Clarita. They also distributed tens of thousands of flyers nationally asking for help in locating her.

The kidnaping began about 2 p.m. Wednesday when a man walked into Harrington’s office, asking to look at homes in Val Verde. Several employees were on duty at the time and he did not ask specifically for Harrington.

They drove to the houses in the man’s teal Jeep Cherokee. Police officials said they believe the pair visited “four or five” homes because Harrington’s business cards were found there.

A co-worker of Harrington grew suspicious when Harrington did not return after about 2 1/2 hours, and she went to look for her. She spotted what she believed was the man’s Jeep at a home about 4:30 p.m. and, feeling something was wrong, wrote down the license plate number and called for help from a nearby house.

The Jeep was gone when the co-worker returned. Investigators discovered that the license plates on the vehicle had been stolen from a car in Pismo Beach.

Harrington made an ATM withdrawal of $300 from a Bank of America branch in Hacienda Heights at 8:34 p.m. Wednesday, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Donald Bear. A photo from the bank camera showing her head and shoulders did not reveal anyone in back of or to the side of her, and she did not appear to be under duress.