Atlanta police have identified the woman who told a Wendy's worker she was being held against her will, and they've found the driver of the truck in which she was traveling.
They have not, however, made contact with the woman, verified her well-being or determined what exactly was going on.
The woman, now identified as LaShonda Marie Cortez, walked into the Wendy’s restaurant at 1940 Piedmont Road late Monday morning, asked for a blank piece of paper and wrote a note saying she needed help. She then left in a white Ford Ranger.
During a Tuesday afternoon news conference, Atlanta police Sgt. Michael O’Connor said detectives had tracked down the man believed to be with her. That man reportedly told authorities that he’d known Cortez for about a month and that he did not know anything about the note.
He reportedly told police he’d dropped Cortez off near the intersection of North Highland and Virginia avenues after their trip to Wendy’s.
O’Connor said the man had been “completely cooperative” and, as of Tuesday afternoon, was “not in trouble.”
O’Connor said police are now trying to locate Cortez to “verify her well-being.”
“We don’t have any indication about her (condition) one way or another,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Atlanta Police Department’s Missing Person Unit at 404-546-5498 or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS.
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