Police in Philadelphia are investigating the case of three possible robberies that all ended with the victims being bound and gagged with duct tape, then stabbed, and finally thrown in the Schuylkill River to drown. The third victim escaped death and alerted police to the attacks.
According to Detroit News, the third man, who remains unidentified, told police he was thrown into a van by four or five people, beaten, and bound and gagged with duct tape. He was robbed and then stabbed several times.
The 20-year-old man said he saw the other two victims already in the van when he was abducted. He didn’t know if they were alive when he was taken.
His abductors then drove to the Schuylkill River near Fairmount Park and threw all three duct tape-bound victims into the water. At least one had a makeshift anchor tied to him.
The third victim was found stumbling down the street and was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital for treatment. Police were called at around 4AM on Wednesday, August 27.
“Both of the dead bodies had duct tape wrapped around their face,” Philly Chief Inspector Scott Small said on Wednesday according to CBS Philly. “They also both appeared to be bound at the wrists and ankles. They also appeared to be tied or tethered to some sort of piece of debris, some sort of weight used as an anchor to keep them under water.”
“We’re looking for any evidence–any tire tracks, any footprints because it is a dirty, muddy area,” Small said. “And if a van did back off of the paved parking lot and onto the grass, onto the dirt, we may be able to get some cast impressions of the tire tracks, and possibly even footprints. We’re looking for any other evidence we can find.”
It is unclear if the three victims had any connection to each other. At first Police weren’t even prepared to confirm the gender of the two dead victims. Eventually it was reported that all three victims were male.
The other two victims were pronounced dead at the scene and have yet to be identified.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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