Woman who says she was kidnapped found alive

A 49-year-old woman was found alive in her car in the Ocala National Forest on Wednesday evening after telling deputies she was abducted from her job at a Holiday McDonald's.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the woman left the restaurant about 7 a.m. Wednesday to make a deposit at a bank. When she didn't return, employees became concerned. Tellers at the bank said they hadn't seen her.

Investigators tracked her cell phone along Interstate 75 into Lake County, Pasco spokesman Doug Tobin said. Then they zeroed in on the forest.

About 7:45 p.m., Lake County deputies found her, tied up and bleeding, in her car off a forest road. She was treated at a local hospital and released about 2 a.m.

Pasco authorities are not releasing her name. Tobin said she was being interviewed by detectives Thursday morning.

The suspect, who is still at large, is described as a white man, about 25 years old, with red hair, a red beard and a pock-marked face. He was wearing an orange sweatshirt and orange gloves.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-854-2862, ext. 7473.

- Molly Moorhead, Times staff writer