Wednesday, June 25, 1997
Trucker charged with kidnapping after cross-country
nightmare
By DON KING / Abilene Reporter-News Correspondent
ROSCOE - A 38-year-old Alabama woman was allegedly raped and
beaten repeatedly on a cross-country truck trip before she managed
to leave an appeal for help.
The imprisoned victim's resourcefulness - dropping a detailed
appeal for help in her wallet on Interstate 20 - helped West Texas
lawmen discover and end the seven-day nightmare last week, Nolan
County officials said.
Furthermore, officials said they intend to see that her alleged
attacker doesn't go unpunished because the victim can't tell police
where the assaults took place.
Nolan County Deputy Sheriff George Dean said Kenneth Earl Eller,
45, of Boaz, Ala., may not be charged with rape and aggravated
assault because of a "jurisdictional problem."
The woman, a single parent hired for her very first truck-driving
job, was kept locked in the truck's sleeper compartment and apparently
doesn't know what state - much less what county - the truck was
in when the assaults occurred, Dean said.
But Eller won't be free to rape again if Nolan County officials
have their way. They've charged him here with aggravated kidnapping,
the only charge that could be filed in Nolan County, but it carries
a punishment range of 15 to 99 years, or life, in prison.
Eller, who also faces parole revocation on a drug conviction
from Alabama, remains in Nolan County Jail. He is being held without
bond pending the arrival of parole officials from Alabama.
Dean said the woman's excitement over her new job turned sour
shortly after she left Birmingham, Ala., with Eller on her first
assignment, a round-trip from Birmingham to the West Coast, on
June 12.
Dean said the woman told him she had secured her first job
with Southern Cal Trucking Company after graduating from a truck-driving
course. The company paired her with Eller for the West Coast trip,
apparently unaware of his criminal background, Dean said.
At the time, Eller was wanted for parole violation in connection
with a drug conviction, the deputy said.
The woman told Nolan County Victims Assistance Coordinator
Peggy Parrott that Eller began making sexual advances shortly
after the couple left Alabama, and became more aggressive as she
continued to resist. She said he eventually assaulted her sexually
and physically and confined her to the 18-wheeler's sleeping compartment
during the return trip from California.
Officials said the hefty Eller is more than 6-feet tall and
that the victim is 5-foot, 1-inch. Judging by when the truck left
California they believe the woman was held captive for more than
20 hours.
Dean said the woman said she was not even allowed out of the
sleeper to go to the bathroom when Eller stopped to assault her.
Instead, she was furnished with some container to use as a sort
of bedpan.
Dean said the woman was "severely traumatized and had
signs of serious physical abuse."
At some point, while Eller was driving, the woman managed to
scribble out a message about her plight. It contained a detailed
description of the truck, including license number, direction
of travel and destination, and asked the finder to notify police
immediately.
Dean said the woman put the message in her wallet and dropped
the wallet from the truck as it sped down a highway. Investigators
later determined the wallet was found in the eastbound lane of
Interstate 20 near Odessa.
Investigators said Eller became suspicious when he heard her
open and slam the sleeper's outside door, but she convinced him
that she'd found it ajar and had slammed it for safety.
Meanwhile, Dean said, a traveler found the wallet in the road
and contacted the Department of Public Safety in Midland. The
DPS released an all points bulletin describing the rig.
DPS Trooper Rich Wiley and new Roscoe Police Chief Brian Selke
observed the truck near FM 608 in Roscoe and stopped it for investigation
June 18. Eller was detained for questioning while the woman was
examined and interviewed, then he was placed in jail.
The trucking company dispatched another crew to return the
truck and rookie driver to Birmingham. The investigation is continuing,
Dean said.
<I>(Senior Staff Writer Roy A. Jones II contributed to
this story.)<I>
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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