RAVENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Warrants have been issued for a man and a woman who allegedly stole a car with a 72-year-old woman inside that prompted a statewide Endangered Missing Adult Alert out of Portage County late Monday night.
The suspects were identified as 32-year-old Christopher Michael Hastings, who reports his address as homeless, and 28-year-old Margaret Ann Hayes, whose last known address was on Chateau Trail in Auburn Township. Hastings and Hayes were both released from Portage County Jail on May 20 at about 8 p.m.
According to investigators, Hastings was in jail for misuse of a credit card and Hayes was in for an OVI. Less than hour after the duo was released, the abduction happened.
Warrants for abduction and auto thefts, both third-degree felonies, have been issued for the suspects.
Around 8:30 p.m. on State Route 59 in Ravenna Township, a 73-year-old man was getting a golf cart out of a trailer at Midway Drive-In when he was approached by a man asking for a ride, according to Major Larry Limbert, of the Portage County Sheriff’s Department.
The senior citizen refused, but Hastings and Hayes entered the car anyway and took off with the man’s 72-year-old wife in the backseat, Limbert said.
Limbert said the woman was forced out of the car on Powdermill Road, about a mile away from the Midway Drive-In.
She didn’t have a cell phone, so she flagged down a car for help, according to Limbert. She was located by a concerned citizen around 11:30 p.m. Monday in Franklin Township.
The vehicle involved is a silver, 2014 Ford Flex, Ohio Registration 857 YUS.
Anyone who comes in contact with the vehicle, or Hayes or Hastings, is asked to contact the Portage County Sheriff’s Office at 330-296-5100.
