BOLIVAR PENINSULA, Texas — A search warrant is shedding light on what a kidnapping victim had to endure during this year's Jeep Weekend on Bolivar Peninsula.
Two men were charged in connection to the kidnapping after they allegedly forced a woman into a pickup truck during the event. Deputies said the woman was sexually assaulted and the kidnappers demanded ransom money before she was dropped off at a gas station in Humble.
According to the six-page search warrant, Bryant Chatham, 20, and Erick Martinez, 21, forced a woman into the backseat of the truck when she got separated from her friends.
When they got inside the truck, they told her to "keep her head down."
In addition to being sexually assaulted, the suspects also used the TextNow app to demand $600 for the woman's release, according to the search warrant.
The warrant read, "If they didn't receive the money in 30 minutes, they would cut off her fingers."
Crime Stoppers CEO Rania Mankarious said the suspects thought communicating via the TextNow app would make them anonymous.
"But what people are missing is that all these apps are tracking you, and they are tracking you in real-time," she said.
In this case, investigators tracked the ransom payment from the TextNow app to Cash App. They then tracked the payment to a Facebook account.
Mankarious said she hasn't been seeing a spike in kidnapping cases where a ransom is involved but in extortion cases online, it's unlike anything she's seen before.
In the Jeep Weekend kidnapping case, the ransom was paid and the woman survived. She was dropped off at a gas station in Humble.
Mankarious said this is a reminder to be alert when at big vents where they might be drinking involved and you can get lost.
"It’s really important that you and your friends have a plan of action," she said. "It’s not about being paranoid. It’s about being public safety-minded, wherever you are."
According to the search warrant, investigators were looking for cell phones, guns, DNA and a doll the victim remembers hanging from the rearview mirror.
Martinez is charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault with a $100,000 bond for each charge. He's also charged with assault on a peace officer and escape while in custody with additional bonds of $50,000 on each charge.
Chatham is charged with aggravated kidnapping and his bond was set at $200,000.