ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 24, 1997 TAG: 9702240079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
A Roanoke woman believed abducted Thursday night by her on-again, off-again boyfriend was apparently fleeing police with him, falsely believing charges had been filed against her, the boyfriend's mother said. The woman was found after she called police Sunday.
Rebecca Hicks, 30, phoned the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday from the Montgomery County home of a friend, Steve Dooley. "Everything is fine," said Sgt. David Bolejack of the Sheriff's Office.
Robert "Butch" Hickson, 31, of Montgomery County was still at large Sunday night.
Hicks was treated for injuries, including two black eyes, at a Montgomery County hospital Sunday, but she has refused to tell police how she was injured, according to Roanoke Police Maj. J.L. Viar. She has told police that Hickson did not abduct her, Viar said.
Viar said, Sunday night after a conversation with Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Don Caldwell, that based on Hicks' statements, the abduction warrant against Hickson would be recalled.
Hickson had been the subject of a massive police manhunt since Thursday night, when witnesses told police that Hickson entered a Roanoke apartment with a shotgun looking for Hicks, hit another woman in the face, and left dragging Hicks by her hair. Onlookers said Hickson forced Hicks into a minivan and drove away.
More than 25 police officers, most heavily armed and dressed in camouflage, searched for Hickson for more than 14 hours Saturday in Montgomery County, fearing Hickson was holding Hicks hostage.
Hickson's mother, Betty Hickson, said Sunday that Hicks went with her son willingly, and the two had been hiding together in the mountains of Montgomery County.
"They would've come on out of the woods if the police hadn't done what all they did yesterday," she said. "No human being I know would've come out in a situation like that. [The police] were too jumpy. I was afraid to go out, too. I thought I might get shot. It was uncalled for."
Betty Hickson said she spoke with Rebecca Hicks on Sunday morning before police took Hicks to the Sheriff's Office for questioning.
No charges have been filed against Hicks. Nevertheless, Betty Hickson said, Hicks was worried she could get in trouble if police found her with Butch Hickson, because Hicks is out on bond on unrelated charges and Butch Hickson is on probation.
"This morning when [Hicks] saw me, she was crying and she hugged me and told me she was sorry," Betty Hickson said. She said Hicks told her a fight broke out during the Thursday night incident. Hicks' friends jumped Butch Hickson and one stabbed him in the lower back. Hicks said she suffered the two black eyes when she intervened, Betty Hickson said.
Since Thursday, Hicks and Butch Hickson apparently were hiding in the wilderness without food, Betty Hickson said. She expects her son to leave the woods soon.
"He's still up in the mountains. I think why he won't come out is he's scared and worried about breaking probation," Betty Hickson said, adding that she's not too concerned about her son's wounds. "The police said he couldn't be hurt too bad because of the way he was running through those mountains."
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