Lancaster Teen Returns After Interstate Ordeal

A 16-year-old Lancaster girl was on her way home Monday, after what police said was a harrowing nearly two-week ordeal in which she and another teen were assaulted and held against their will by a cross-country trucker.

The trucker, Ricky Donnell Jones of Carson, remained in jail in Knoxville, Tenn., facing state charges of kidnapping while the FBI weighed whether to file additional charges in federal court.

Knox County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Martha Dooley said the girl and an 18-year-old friend had gone willingly with Jones, who was beginning a multi-state run to deliver furniture June 22.

The 18-year-old was already in the truck with Jones, a family acquaintance, when they invited the 16-year-old to join them. Jones then took to the highway, refusing to let the pair leave or phone home, Dooley said.

The teens’ names were withheld by authorities.

“The 16-year-old thought she was just going to be riding around with him for a few hours,” Dooley said. “When both girls tried to get away from Jones, he held them against their will, he sexually assaulted them and he broke the 18-year-old’s arm.”

Jones told the teens he would harm the 18-year-old’s family if they left, Dooley said.

On June 24, the 16-year-old’s mother contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in Lancaster to report her daughter missing, Lt. Donald Downton, the station’s chief of detectives, said Monday. But the department did not look for her because she was believed to be a runaway, he said.

“Thankfully, she’s OK,” Downton said. “The good part to the story is that she survived.”

On Saturday, Jones pulled into a truck stop in west Knox County and allowed the 16-year-old out of the truck to use the restroom, Dooley said.

She phoned her mother, who advised the girl to go inside the truck stop and tell the clerks what had happened. Employees hid the teen in a stockroom and called 911, Dooley said.

Sheriff’s deputies responding to the call interviewed the girl and took a description of the trucker. A few minutes later, they said, Jones walked into the truck stop to look for her. Deputies found the 18-year-old in the truck, and her story matched that of her friend.

Jones was arrested, charged with kidnapping and held on $200,000 bond, Dooley said.

The parents of the 16-year-old flew to Knoxville on Sunday and were scheduled to fly home with their daughter Monday afternoon, Dooley said.

Knox County sheriff’s deputies were trying to arrange transportation home for the 18-year-old, she added.

As local law enforcement authorities began to investigate the case, the Knoxville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation also became involved.

FBI Special Agent Gary Kidder, who is based in Knoxville, said his agency was gathering information on the case to present to the U.S. attorney’s office in Tennessee, to see if there was enough evidence to file federal charges against Jones.

Officials in Knoxville said that Jones had previously been convicted of kidnapping. Los Angeles County records show a man with Jones’ name and date of birth -- but with one letter off in the middle name -- was convicted in 1998 on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of making a criminal threat.