A kidnapped woman, fighting for her life, made a desperate attempt to escape her kidnapper, only to wind up dying in a horrific twist of events.

Police in Gastonia, N.C., near Charlotte, say the victim had been taken from her home early Wednesday. According to investigators, the situation turned even grimmer when her kidnapper stabbed the woman as he tried to escape with her as his hostage.

That's when she made the fateful decision to risk her life by jumping out of the moving car as it sped down a highway west of Charlotte. That decision resulted in tragedy as she wound up being hit by several vehicles, including an 18-wheeler.  Officials said some drivers stopped and several others called 911 to say they didn’t know what they had hit.

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Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney — pictured during a hearing Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 — has cleared the way for Georgia's State Election Board to obtain Fulton ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC