After being kidnapped in October and rescued after a 911 cell-phone call that she made from the trunk of a car, a Kernersville woman talked about her experience yesterday.
Always carry your cell phone in your pocket and never lose your faith in God's grace and mercy, Susan Patrick said to members of the media, after recounting the incident during morning services at her church, Calvary Chapel of the Triad.
This was the first time that she had identified herself as the woman kidnapped to anyone other than police, her family and close friends.
"One thing I constantly thought about was, ‘God kept me safe through this whole ordeal,'" she said.
Patrick has asked a minister at her church to visit the three men charged with kidnapping and robbing her and sent Bibles to each of them.
She said that hers is a story of keeping one's faith in God and in extending His mercy to others.
Patrick, who works second shift, said was carrying shopping bags into her house in the 1200 block of Pine Knolls Road in Kernersville at 2 a.m. on Oct. 29 when two men approached her. The men told her they wanted money. Then they pointed a gun at her and told her to come with them. They led her down the street to a Toyota Avalon sedan and put her in the trunk, she said.
From inside the trunk, Patrick dialed 911.
Police have said that the men drove about six miles before they hit a curb and ran off, leaving Patrick in the trunk. Police were able to find her using the GPS technology in her phone.
Three men have been charged in the case.
Orlando Joshua Wesley, 17, is charged with felony kidnapping, armed robbery, first-degree burglary and felony possession of a stolen vehicle.
Eric Carlyle Farmer Jr., 16, and Demario Andrew Johnson, 18, both of Winston-Salem, are charged with felony kidnapping and armed robbery.
The men are being held in the Forsyth County Jail.
Investigators have also linked Farmer and Wesley with two incidents near Wake Forest University's campus. They are accused of robbing a female Wake Forest student on Oct. 28 at an off-campus apartment on Scholastic Drive, after threatening her with a handgun.
The two men are also accused of attempting to rob a man on Brookwood Drive near campus on Oct. 27. Farmer and Wesley are charged with armed robbery and attempted armed robbery, Winston-Salem police said.
Patrick didn't know her kidnappers, she said.
The Rev. David McGee, the senior pastor at Calvary Chapel, said that he counseled Patrick soon after the kidnapping and that he was probably angrier about the incident than she was.
He said that he would have understood if Patrick, who has been active with outreach efforts at the church, had wanted to pull back from those activities for a while.
But Patrick told him that she wanted to take part in a church social, even though her kidnappers had not been caught.
Some people harden themselves after a traumatic incident, but, McGee said, it has been inspiring to see Patrick reject bitterness and anger.
Patrick said she decided to tell her story now that the men are in custody.
She has learned a lot about herself because of the incident, she said. She is grateful to all of the family and friends that she has in her life.
She is more cautious, now, when she is out in public. But she also has an even deeper faith in God, because, she said, she realizes that a person can't rely on only one's self in life.
"I'm very independent," she said, "and I never thought something like this would happen to me."
■ Mary Giunca can be reached at 727-4089 or at mgiunca@wsjournal.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement