Reward Total Grows In Case Of Kidnapped Women
DETROIT (WWJ) - While the investigation continues to move slowly, three people have stepped up to offer $10,000 each for information leading to the whereabouts of 18-year-old Abreeya Brown and 21-year-old Ashley Conaway.
The two best friends haven't been heard from since Conaway sent a text message saying they were locked in the trunk of a car Tuesday night.
Prior to a candlelight prayer vigil Friday night, Hamtramck police had no news for family members who showed hoping for an update.
The families renewed their appeal to anyone with information about the kidnapping.
"We believe in you, Detroit. We believe in getting our girls back ... We stand knowing that you want change ... we want changes," said Latrina Conaway, Ashley's Conaway sister. "We are confident in reference to the people and the character and the integrity of the people of the city of Detroit."
Brown's stepfather, Charles McGinnis, called police about 10 p.m. Tuesday to report that Brown and Conaway had been kidnapped and that he had exchanged gunfire outside the home on Andrus Street with two men who abducted them.
When officers arrived, the women were gone. Shell casings were on the ground and the home they shared with McGinnis was riddled with bullets. McGinnis told police his stepdaughter and Conaway were in front of the house when two armed men forced them into a car and drove off.
Reverend Maurice Hardwick prayed with family members and friends gathered at a hall on the city's east side on Friday night.
"No one deserves this. We're gonna stop this violence. We're not gonna take people in front of their father and throw them in a trunk and run off with them, in front of our heavenly father," Hardwick said. "We're calling this out in the city of Detroit."
One man who police believe to be at least partially responsible for the abduction has been charged in an earlier shooting involving the two women. (More on this, here).
Anyone with information is asked to contact Hamtramck Police at 313-876-7803 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. The reward for tips leading to an arrest was up to $36,000 as of Friday.
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