Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-02-27
Search Pushed
For kidnaper Of
District Woman
Suspect Vonishes
In Woods. Escapes
Shots Near Lorton

Shots Near lorton
A state police manhunt was
being pressed near Lorton, Va,
today for a blond young man
who repeatedly was talked out OF
assault and robbery after kidnap-
ing washington woman and
forcing her escort out of a car.
The young woman, who be-
lieved her assailant was carrying
a .45-caliber pistol, said she per-
suaded him to leave her alone
after he carried her into the
woods and tried to modest her.
She said she even got him to
give back her escorts wallet.
The kidnaper, who had been
drinking, finally broke down in
tears, she told police.
The woman is Miss Lois
Richoux, %, of 3419 lakewood
terrace NV. Her escort was
Fritz H. Wolf, 26. Of 5912 Four
tenth street NV.
Bloodhounds Put On Trail
They said the kidnapping began
as a kind-hearted attempt to help
q serviceman. It ended in a police
dragnet. with bloodhounds, near
Lorton Reformatory. after a re-
formatory official fired two shots
over the head of a suspect.
Police were looking for man
Of "a, five feet five inches tall,
weighing about 140 pounds, with
long blond hair. Miss Richoux
said he had a tattoo on his left
arm. When he vanished into
the Lorton woods he was wearing
. light-colored suit coat, a white
shirt without a tie and was bare
headed, she said.
Asked Ride to Bridge
Virginia State troopers said the
report went like this:
Miss Richoux and Mr.. Wolf
were sitting in his car in front
Of her home about 9 pm. last
night.
The man came UP to them,
showed what appeared to be an
armed services identification
card. He said he had to get back
to the Quantico Marine Base, but
had no transportation.
He asked the couple if they
would drive him across the
Fourteenth Street Bridge"
They agreed and drove him
almost to the reformatory before
he announced he had a pistol
and told Mr.. Wolf to stop the car.
Police said MIR. Wolf told them
he saw something that looked
like a gun" Miss Richoux told
them she had not seen a weapon.
Tries to Hide Key
The stranger forced Mr.. Wolf
out Of the car. Mr.. Wolf took
the key out of the ignition as
he stepped out. Police said MIR.
Wolf told them the car started
to roll away, and he believed the
kidnaper had crossed the igni-
ton wires, making the key un-
necessary.
MIR. Wolf went back I'D the
road to house, from which he
called police.
Meanwhile. police said, the
car drifted down hill about 500
yards, then rolled into a ditch
about so yards from the house
Of w. T. Berrett.
The kidnaper carried her from
the car into the woods, Miss
Richoux told police, and at
tempted to assault her. She
begged and pleaded" police
said, and told him shed die
before she'd submit to him"
Captor Starts to Cry
He finally broke down and
began to cry. she said, then re-
turned with her to the road.
He said, '''Ill get you If you
tell the police"
Miss Richoux said she asked
her captor to return the wallet
which he had taken from Mr..
Wolf. He did so, with the money
intact.
He then tried to hitchhike a
ride. When a car slowed by them,
Miss Richoux screamed, and her
abductor fed into the woods.
She came running to my
front door," Mr.. Berrett told
The Star. "She was hysterical.
I gave her a glass of water and
tried to calm her down. 1t was
10 minutes before she got SO she
could talk. When she told me
the story. I called police"
state troopers, who by that
time had Mr.. Wolf in their
station telling his side of the
story, came to the Berretts house
for Miss Richoux.
Police were dispatched to the
area to hunt the man.
Arouses Reformatory Worker
At 1880 pm. they stopped at
the house of Capt. Hoke Smith
Hinson, chief training officer at
Lorton. He lives on the re-
See KIDNAP, Page AS