Forsyth County deputies have arrested two women accused of forcing a 77-year-old into a car and making her withdraw $10,000 from an area bank — and investigators believe there could be additional victims.
The woman was kidnapped about 2 p.m. Monday while walking to her car in the parking lot of a Goodwill on Atlanta Highway, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Stacie Miller said in a news release. Investigators said the victim was confronted by two women who told her to get in their car “or something would happen to her.”
“Once in the vehicle, the suspects told the victim that she needed to withdraw $10,000 from her bank account and they would give her $45,000 in return,” Miller said.
The woman was taken to her bank and withdrew the cash, but she didn’t say anything to the teller because the suspects were watching and she was afraid they would hurt her, authorities said. After the withdrawal, the women took the 77-year-old’s cash, wrote down the information from her driver’s license and copied her credit card number, authorities said.
Then they took her back to Merchant’s Square and reportedly handed her an envelope filled with fake money as she got out of the car. The woman walked into a nearby business and told them she’d been robbed. When deputies arrived, she gave them a description of the suspects’ vehicle and part of the tag number.
Authorities eventually spotted the car in the southbound lanes of Ga. 400 and pulled it over. The women inside, identified Wednesday as 51-year-old Cha-Rae Owens of Atlanta and 61-year-old Sharon Sanford of Douglasville, were taken into custody.
They have been charged with kidnapping, exploitation of the elderly, theft by deception, identity fraud and first-degree forgery, according to the sheriff’s office. They remained in jail Wednesday afternoon without bond.
Investigators were able to recover the $10,000 and return it to the victim, Miller said.
The case remains under investigation, but evidence collected at the scene suggests the women may have been involved in additional thefts, according to the sheriff’s office. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 770-781-3087.
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