CHARLES CITY COUNTY, Va. - The man charged with multiple felonies in the abduction of a Richmond teen last month is back in Charles City County. Delvin Barnes arrived at the Charles City County Sheriff's Office around 11 p.m. Thursday night.
Pieces of tips and evidence, added up; an ATM transaction, a grocery store receipt, a GPS device planted by a concerned car dealer and videos -- including one that showed a 22-year-old woman manhandled, knocked to the ground, then forced into a car just blocks from her Philadelphia home.
"I've been on the job 46 years, (this is the) first time I've ever seen a kidnapping on videotape. (It) really was horrific to watch it unfold,” said Philadelphia police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
And because of that, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither is thankfully back in Philadelphia where she belongs.
The Wednesday capture of Barnes revealed new information, and a complex background of crime connecting him to Richmond. In addition to multiple crimes around the state of Virginia, Barnes is charged in a recent case, with abduction, forcible rape, malicious wounding with a chemical and other charges related to the early October disappearance of a 16-year-old girl from Richmond, according to Crawley. That girl managed to escape after two days, walking two miles, naked and burned, into a business to seek help.
Barnes hit the teen in the head with a shovel, put her in his trunk and drove her to his Charles City County home, investigators said. Barnes made the teenager take off her clothes, which he then burn The 16-year-old girl was reported missing in Richmond on Oct. 1.
It was two days later, on October 3, that Barnes began to dig a hole on his property. He asked the girl how she wanted to die.
It was then, the girl said, during a moment when Barnes’ attention was diverted that she fled, running through the woods to safety and stumbled into a building supplies company two miles away, naked, bleeding and burned.
Delvin Barnes home
He also showed her pictures of other girls he said he had abducted.
“When I walked in, I could immediately smell bleach. She was hesitant – startled. It was varied emotions you saw on her face,” said Deputy Floyd Miles with the Charles City County Sheriff’s Office. “I didn’t want to push her when I was talking to her about what had happened. She had a gash on her head.”
The teen was battered and bruised, but alive and able to identify Barnes in a lineup. She was also able to give investigators more than enough to build their case.
Barnes became the prime suspect in the alleged abduction when investigators said his DNA matched the victim's on October 28.
Many are wondering why the incident was not made public until Wednesday night.
Capt. Crawley said they did not want to alert Barnes that they were actively looking for him.
"We didn't want to alert him that we were talking to her because of the threats he made toward her in fear that he might retaliate and come back to her," said Capt. Crawley.
Former police captain, Steve Neal said these decisions from law enforcement vary on a case by case basis.
"It becomes a situation of will making the information public hurt my efforts to locate the individual," said Neal, "They have to consider a number of factors; such as is there a high likelihood that this individual will hurt somebody else, what type of criminal history does the individual have."
How Barnes was caught in Philadelphia
A video from just after 6 a.m. Monday, showed a man in a dark hooded jacket using Freeland-Gaither's ATM card at a machine in Aberdeen, Maryland, which is about 75 miles from Philadelphia.
And on Wednesday, police released an additional video of a man, also wearing dark clothing, making a purchase at a convenience store on Monday.
Someone who sold a car to Barnes recognized him from one of the videos and alerted authorities. The dealer had placed a GPS device in the vehicle because of worries about Barnes' bad credit, according to Charles City County Sheriff's Office Capt. Jayson Crawley.
"From that, we were able to trace the car," Ramsey said. "We were able to then contact Charles City (Virginia authorities), ... and things started really falling into place very quickly."
Such devices are put in cars to alert customers if they're behind on payments and, if they don't pay on time, allowing dealers to shut down the vehicle and track it down, said PassTime USA CEO Stan Schwartz, the head of the company that made the unit. In this case, Barnes knew it was there.
PassTime has about 1.5 million such units out on the road, but has been only asked by law enforcement 10 to 15 times to track them as part of a criminal investigation, according to Schwartz. He said that the car dealer worked with authorities earlier this week, with the PassTime USA headquarters getting involved Thursday morning.
Police don’t believe either victim knew Barnes
Like the case involving Freeland-Gaither, authorities believe that case was a stranger abduction, meaning the victim didn't know who took her.
"We used to chill, hang out. He's a good guy," a friend of Barnes said.
"I don't believe it ... He is always looking to help somebody, always looking to bend over backwards. He'll give the shirt off his back if he could," Ronald Davis said.
The travels of Barnes ended Wednesday night in Jessup, Maryland.
"We surveilled that vehicle in the area," FBI agent Ed Hanko said of the car Barnes is thought to have used in Freeland-Gaither's kidnapping.
"... When the subject exited the vehicle, that's when Ms. (Freeland-Gaither) was recovered."
The 22-year-old nursing assistant was released early Thursday from Maryland's Howard County General Hospital, having been reunited with her family after a harrowing three days.
"She's doing about as well as you can expect. Obviously, she's traumatized by the entire event over the past few days, so it's going to take a little time for that to heal. But she's doing well. She's back with her family and she's very, very happy about that," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."
"She had injuries, but nothing life threatening, fortunately," he said.
What is next for Barnes
He is expected back in court in Charles City County, November 12. He will then be transferred to Riverside Regional Jail in Prince George County.
He has not asked for an attorney during the 3.5 hour trip. His car is in the possession of Baltimore FBI and evidence will be collected there. They are obtaining a warrant to search it.
“The suspect, actually, he slept the entire car ride down,” said Capt. Crawley. “We did have a brief conversation but he advised us that once we got to Charles City County he would sit down and talk some more about what we talked about with the FBI field office in Baltimore.”
“We’re hoping to gather more information from him concerning this gruesome crime,” he said. “So far he’s been cooperating. He hasn’t shown any resistance. He’s been cordial and polite.”
Crawley said that the victim seemed relieved that Barnes is off the streets “and she didn’t have to be in fear anymore of him retaliating against her, for her coming to police.”
“We are exploring the possibility that there are other victims,” he said. “We don’t have any confirmed victims that have come forward.”
“ But we are asking other localities to take a look at their case files and see if they have anything that similar to how Mr. Barnes abducted the girl in Philly and how he abducted the girl in the Richmond area,” Crawley said.
