Manhunt for rapists who sought ransom

Police said yesterday that the alleged abduction of a 28-year-old woman found bound and partially clothed in Fairmount Park on Tuesday was a failed ransom attempt.

According to authorities, the woman was snatched Monday night around 9:30 p.m. on the 3900 block of Lawndale Street and placed in a vehicle, possibly a van. She was taken to a location where she was strapped to a chair, raped and placed in a closet, investigators said.

Authorities are looking for two male suspects and one woman who are unknown to the victim.

“This was not random,” said Capt. John Darby of the Special Victims Unit. “We believe she was targeted.”

During the ordeal, one of the suspects allegedly called a friend of the victim demanding $20,000, police said. The victim somehow used a cell phone to contact her mother, who then called police. The woman was discovered by passersby in Fairmount Park near Chamounix and Belmont Mansion around 5:30 p.m., Darby said.

Neighbors of the victim described her as a nice woman who ran a day care in her home and kept mainly to herself. They said there was an altercation last week, however, with a man they assumed to be her boyfriend.

“Nobody heard nothing, saw nothing,” Joan Brown said of Monday’s incident. “Nobody can understand what’s going on.”