86-year-old woman escapes car trunk after being abducted

An 86-year-old Washington state woman forced into the trunk of her car and taken to Oregon by a trio of teenagers managed to escape when the alleged kidnappers stopped at a store, authorities said on Wednesday.

Hazel Abel, 86, said she had been abducted from her home on Monday evening in the south-central city of Kennewick, placed in the trunk of her car, and driven to Oregon, said Kevin McCary, a spokesman for the Benton County Sheriff's Office, in Washington.

Once the teens, two boys and a girl ages 14, 15, and 16, stopped at a store in Portland's Multnomah County, Abel managed to unlock the trunk from the inside and run for help, McCary said.

Abel declined medical treatment, and was cleared to return home, McCary said.

The teens, also from the Kennewick area in Washington, were arrested on Tuesday and were to be arraigned on Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder, McCary said, citing information from Multnomah County officials.

McCary declined to discuss the motivations behind the alleged abduction or the relationship between Abel and the teens.