Woman reports being kidnapped in Cape Girardeau, driven to Illinois and raped

Cape Girardeau police are investigating a kidnapping that reportedly occurred late Wednesday night, said Sgt. Jason Selzer, spokesman for the police department.

The victim told police she had been walking near the 300 block of South Ellis Street at midnight when she was approached by a long-haired man in an older model station wagon with wood-grained side panels, Selzer said.

The man got out of the car and forced her inside, holding her at knifepoint, then drove her to a secluded spot in Alexander County, Ill., and raped her, the victim told police.

She said he then forced her out of the car near the Illinois side of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, and she was able to call 911. When officers responded to the call for help, she was walking across the bridge, Selzer said.

Alexander County will be handling the rape investigation, and Cape Girardeau police will be investigating the kidnapping, Selzer said.