Kidnapped Girls Found; Suspect Dead

L O S   A N G E L E S, Aug. 1 -- Two teenage girls kidnapped at gunpoint from a popular "make-out" lane in a Los Angeles suburb have been rescued, and their abductor was shot and killed, police said.

The teens were with Kern County officials in central California after authorities there rescued them, said Los Angeles County Assistant Sheriff Larry Waldie.

He said police spotted the car the girls were in and pulled it over.

"The girls are safe in the custody of Kern County," Waldie told cheering onlookers at a news conference this afternoon. "The suspect is deceased."

He said the kidnapper, identified as Roy Ratliff, was shot dead by police. Waldie said Ratliff had a warrant out for his arrest on a rape charge and was suspected of a carjacking in Nevada.

Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks said he was certain Ratliff was just minutesaway from killing the girls. "He was hunting for a place to kill 'em and bury 'em," Sparks said on CNN's Larry King Live program. He said the girls had been raped.

A Sighting, Then a Pursuit, Then a Shooting

The girls were kidnapped at around 1:50 a.m. in Lancaster, about 60 miles northeast of Los Angeles. They were taken at gunpoint by the suspect, who interrupted them and their boyfriends at a lovers' lane. He came upon the two couples sitting in separate cars.

Ratliff blindfolded one girl's boyfriend, Joshua Brown, bound him with duct tape and tied him to a post, authorities said. He ordered Brooks out of the Ford Bronco at gunpoint, and then approached the other girl, who was with Frank Melero Jr. in another car, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Deputy Brian Lendman said. Ratliff forced the girl out of the car and tied him up and blindfolded him with duct tape. He then drove away with both girls in Brown's Ford Bronco, he said.

An animal control officer first spotted Ratliff and the Bronco, Waldie said. The officer contacted the Kern County Sheriff's Department, and the California Highway Patrol came upon Ratliff at Walker Pass in Kern County. A short pursuit ensued, but Ratliff crashed the Bronco and then fled the vehicle, leaving the girls.