A man authorities said abducted three Georgia Southern University students Sunday night was in Statesboro to attend a drug treatment program, police said.
The treatment was a condition of Bradley Justin Cochran’s bond on charges of child molestation and possession of methamphetamine out of Pickens County, according to a Facebook post by Statesboro police.
Cochran, who lived in Pickens County until late 2017, left the program Sunday and checked into a motel on South Main Street, police said. Nine hours later, he kidnapped and carjacked the three victims.
“Cochran did not know his victims, and apparently chose them at random,” said Madison Bridges Warren, community information specialist for the police.
The women were kidnapped at knifepoint near the Georgia Southern campus and two of them were sexually assaulted before escaping, police said.
GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles confirmed Wednesday that Cochran’s death was due to suicide by hanging, per the agency’s autopsy.
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