Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of kidnapping. Reader discretion is advised.
In November 2014, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, 22, was kidnapped from a Philadelphia street while walking home from a family gathering. Within days, authorities caught up to the kidnapper, Delvin Barnes, in Jessup, Maryland, and rescued Freeland-Gaither alive. They were able to track down Barnes after he used Freeland-Gaither’s ATM card, per NBC Philadelphia. Police also used security footage and tracking devices.
People Magazine stated the US Attorney’s Office announced in 2016 that Barnes pleaded guilty to kidnapping. Following his guilty plea, he received a sentence of 35 years in prison. Federal prison records stated that Barnes is currently serving his term in FCI Herlong in California.
A new Lifetime movie, Abducted Off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story, recently revisited Carlesha Freeland-Gaither’s harrowing kidnapping story. The film premiered on Lifetime last Saturday, February 10, 2024.
How did police track down Carlesha Freeland-Gaither’s kidnapper, Delvin Barnes?
On the night of November 2, 2014, Gaither-Freeland, a 22-year-old nursing aide, was returning home from a family gathering. She got off the bus and was walking along West Coulter Street in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood when a man grabbed her. This man, later identified as Delvin Barnes, then forced her into a gray Ford Taurus, per NBC Philadelphia. Surveillance footage captured the kidnapping incident, which proved essential in the case.
According to police accounts, Gaither-Freeland tried to fight back but stopped once Barnes threatened to kill her. She later told NBC that she intentionally dropped her phone and glasses as clues while the kidnapper forced her into the vehicle. A man named Dwayne Fletcher had witnessed the entire incident and even tried to stop the attack. However, Barnes brandished a knife to stop Fletcher from helping the victim.
With the surveillance video and Fletcher as a witness, detectives knew that they were on the lookout for a gray Ford Taurus. While the incident prompted a nationwide investigation into Carlesha Freeland-Gaither’s kidnapping, she remained tied up inside the trunk of the car. The case soon garnered significant media coverage.
The NBC report stated that Gaither-Freeland let the kidnapper, Delvin Barnes, use her ATM card. This would later help authorities track down the two, proving consequential in the search. The search eventually expanded from Philadelphia to Aberdeen, Maryland, where surveillance had captured Barnes using the captive’s ATM card on November 3, 2014.
Gaither-Freeland claimed she later learned that Barnes was trying to travel to Virginia to visit his daughter. Along the way, they stopped outside a Chinese restaurant and a McDonald’s where she tried to get help discreetly.
Carlesha Freeland-Gaither told the outlet that during the drive, they both continued throwing trash out of the car. These trash items ultimately led to a big break for investigators after a woman from Havre De Grace, Maryland, found a bag of trash with a receipt from an ACME supermarket, a bag of Herr’s potato chips, and shattered glass. The woman later called the police after learning about Gaither-Freeland’s abduction.
Surveillance footage from the ACME supermarket showed Barnes buying the same potato chips. Investigators then tracked Barnes’ Ford Taurus through a GPS device that the car dealership had placed inside the vehicle. The dealership had reportedly installed the GPS in the vehicle when Barnes bought it because he had bad credit.
Investigators eventually found Carlesha Freeland-Gaither and Delvin Barnes on November 5, 2014. They found the two inside Taurus in a shopping center parking lot in Jessup, Maryland, after following a tip from a Virginia ATF Office. Authorities arrested Barnes as soon as he stepped out of the vehicle and rescued Gaither-Freeland, who had only suffered minor injuries.
The NBC report further mentioned that at the time of his arrest, Barnes was already wanted for attempted murder and rape charges in an unrelated case. He had allegedly sexually assaulted and tried to kill a teenager in Virginia in October 2014 and has an extensive criminal record. The kidnapper later told investigators that he abducted Gaither-Freeland randomly. He had hoped to steal money from her so he could travel to Virginia to see his daughter.
In June 2016, Barnes pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and received a sentence of 35 years in prison, per another NBC Philadephia report.
