TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa woman is safe and her accused kidnapper is behind bars following a more than 18-hour search throughout the Tampa Bay region.
It all started around 1:30 a.m. Thursday on Bordeaux Village Place near N 50th Street and E 127th Avenue near the campus of the University of South Florida when Hillsborough County deputies received a call about a possible kidnapping.
When deputies got to the area, witnesses reportedly told law enforcement they saw a black Nissan sedan pull up and two people "physically force" 25-year-old Jayanna Clark into the car before driving off.
As the investigation continued, detectives said they believed 26-year-old Jahvontae Bell kidnapped Clark.
Bell was already wanted for a separate armed kidnapping case in Pinellas County, the sheriff's office said.
Detectives said on Thursday evening, Clark and Bell were seen exiting a shed on the side of a home on 13th Street SW in Largo. Clark was unharmed while Bell was arrested at the scene.
Bell was charged with armed kidnapping, battery and four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
"I'm relieved that this woman was found safely this evening," Sheriff Chad Chronister said. "Now, our detectives will re-trace the steps taken by the suspect today and hold this man accountable."
The investigation is ongoing.
Editor's note: The sheriff's office initially misspelled the suspect's first name as "Jayvontae." The spelling has since been corrected.