ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — New details have been released in the case of a Columbus woman who was kidnapped and later escaped in Ross County, which leads to more questions than answers and the possibility that the suspect may be involved in more cases of missing women.
According to police reports obtained by the Guardian, alleged kidnappers, Anthony Jernee and Terri Diaz picked up a victim from Columbus about two weeks ago, tied her up, and held her against her will, which lead to her eventual escape.
On the morning of August 4, Jernee and Diaz stopped and asked the victim if she wanted to go to Lucasville with them and pick up a camper. The victim, reports say, willingly left with the duo. The woman told detectives with the Sheriff’s Office that she knew Jernee and had previously spent time with him.
The victim said Jernee and Diaz made plans for the three of them to camp at Paint Creek State Park. She went on to tell detectives that Jernee wanted her to perform oral sex on him, and when she declined, he placed handcuffs on her. Diaz and Jernee allegedly took the victim into the camper and zip-tied her to a couch inside. According to statements provided by the woman, Jernee said that “had she performed oral sex on him, this would never have happened, and that now she will be like the rest.” The victim said that Diaz, held her at a knife point.
The woman told detectives that she was able to get one hand free from the zip ties and found a box cutter. She then cut the zip ties and jumped from the moving camper in the area of Nipgen, a small community in Ross County. A homeowner in the area called 9-1-1 after he said he found the woman on his lawn with shackles around her ankles and ties on her wrists in distress, saying she had been abducted and just escaped. When deputies arrived they found the woman hysterical, who told them she had been tied up and held against her will.
Deputies worked with troopers and Chillicothe Police Department to track down a truck the woman described, which was pulling the camper. Law enforcement located Jernee pulling the camper headed toward Chillicothe. Deputies tried pulling him over, but he gave a slow pursuit; sometimes trying to ram law enforcement, police said. The chase ended up in an alley behind Paint Street near Fourth Street in Chillicothe where the pickup and camper jackknifed. That’s where law enforcement took Jernee into custody, while the woman-victim was taken to the hospital. Also arrested was Diaz.
The Guardian spoke with investigators to inquire about the follow-up into the victim’s statement that Jernee told her, “she will be like the rest,” and what that statement might have meant. The Guardian asked police if the man was being considered a suspect in other sexual assaults, abductions, or even murders. Currently, several homicide cases involving missing women remain open in Ross County:
- Wanda Lemons and Charlotte Trego are two women who remain missing as part of the “Missing Women of Chillicothe.”
- In May, the body of Lindsey Schobelock was found in the woods of Ross County. She had been missing for several months.
- An unidentified woman’s body was found burned behind Hobby Lobby on April 15.
- A jaw bone was found inside Yoctangee Park by kids last month.
Law enforcement said they could not comment on the ongoing investigations.
