A North Carolina postal worker not ready to end her virtual romance with a Delaware man was arrested in Maryland after breaking into his Claymont apartment in an attempt to kidnap him.
Kimberly Jernigan, 33, of Durham, is being held as a fugitive in the Cecil County Detention Center. She faces charges of attempted kidnapping, aggravated menacing and burglary when extradition to Delaware.
New Castle County police spokesman Cpl. Trinidad Navarro said officers were called to the 52-year-old victim’s apartment in the Whitney Presidential Towers in Claymont at about 5:28 p.m. Thursday for a report of an attempted kidnapping.
When officers arrived, the victim told them that when he got home from work he found an intruder standing in the shadows of his apartment pointing an object at him. The man then saw a laser beam on his torso that was shining from the object the intruder was holding.
The man fled his apartment and called police to report that he believed the intruder was his ex-girlfriend, whom he identified as Jernigan, and alleged that she had also tried to kidnap him two weeks ago at his job in Pennsylvania.
Officers searched the apartment and found her dog, Gogi, bound with duct tape in the bathtub and a pair of handcuffs and duct tape outside the victim’s bedroom window, where Jernigan had cut a screen to get in, Navarro said.
A radio broadcast was issued to surrounding police agencies with a description of Jernigan’s blue 2008 Kia Rio with North Carolina registration. An hour later, Maryland state troopers found the car and the suspect at the Chesapeake House Rest Stop on I-95.
She was taken into custody after a brief struggle, Navarro said. At the time of her arrest, troopers recovered a BB gun and Taser in her car. An investigation revealed that the two met online on a Web-based game called “Second Life.”
The victim, whose character was a lion, engaged in a virtual relationship with Jernigan, whose character was a virtual woman. After the two met in person a few months ago, the victim broke off the relationship. Jernigan, however, was not ready to end the relationship and tried to kidnap the man at gunpoint two weeks ago at his place of employment in Pennsylvania.
On Monday, Jernigan came back to the state and posed as a local postal worker attempting to deliver a package to him. But since the man had recently moved, she didn’t have his address. After four days, she found his address and went to her apartment with her dog Gogi.
Not wanted to leave the dog in the car while she laid in wait for the victim, she brought the dog with her, Navarro said. However, the dog started barking, so Jernigan bound his snout with duct tape and locked him in the bathroom.
When she split, she left the dog behind. The canine was found in good health and uninjured, Navarro said. He was turned over to the SPCA, which is investigating a possible animal cruelty case.
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs....1/80822022
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Aw how sad virtual love gone wrong :'( lol
