CMU coed abducted, raped; captor killed

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (WOOD) - A Central Michigan University student from Kent County escaped from a man who allegedly abducted her at gunpoint, sexually assaulted and tried to kill her by setting a home on fire.

Police fatally shot the 30-year-old suspect -- identified as Eric Ramsey of Mount Pleasant -- in another county 70 miles away several hours later.

== The last post on Eric Ramsey's Facebook page : "Well folkes im about to get shot. Peace" ==

The abduction happened around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of the Student Activity Center, according to the CMU Police Department's website. The suspect forced the CMU student into her Ford Escape and they fled the area.

The suspect drove her to a home on S. Mission Road near E. Blanchard Road in Lincoln Township. That is where the suspect bound and sexually assaulted the victim, Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski confirmed for 24 Hour News 8.

The suspect then put the victim back in her vehicle and they drove to get some gas cans, and he told her that he was going to kill her, Sheriff Mioduszewski said.

The victim jumped from the vehicle and possibly suffered a broken arm. She ran to a nearby house.

"I come out and I hear banging on the door, and I hear someone screaming 'help,'" James Persyn, one of the two teens inside that house, said Thursday.

The teens allowed the victim in, locked the doors and called 911.

The suspect followed the victim to the residence and banged on the door, demanding entrance, Persyn said. The teens and the victim hid in a bathroom in the house as Ramsey poured gasoline on the home, set it on fire and then fled.

The father of the teens arrived home in time to extinguish the fire.

The suspect was later spotted in Otsego and Crawford counties, and at some point stole a sanitation truck, police said.

A vehicle chase ensued with police and the suspect who rammed the truck into two Michigan State Police vehicles and one Crawford County vehicle. A trooper was injured.

A Crawford County sheriff's deputy was briefly pinned in his cruiser. After he managed to get out of his vehicle, he fatally shot Ramsey, police said.

Authorities at a Thursday morning news conference called the victim a hero.

CMU Sexual Aggression Services Director Steve Thompson, who specializes in profiling sex crime aggressors, told 24 Hour News 8 it's rare to see a perpetrator like Ramsey continue to go after his victim after an escape.  

"When the young woman has the courage to escape -- which was incredible -- for him to pursue and then try to burn her out...weird. That's so unusual. I can't even put my head around it," he said.

Thompson was also shocked Ramsey abducted the student in such a public place: A well-lit parking lot at the school. He told 24 Hour News 8 it seemed as though the suspect did not care if police would catch him.

Anyone with more information about this incident is asked to call the CMU Police Department at 989.774.3081, or Isabella County Central Dispatch at 989.773.1000.

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Ramsey's criminal background, courtesy Michigan Department of Corrections --

• Pleaded no contest to destruction of police property in April 2007 in Isabella County
• Pleaded no contest to assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer in April 2007 in Isabella County
• Pleaded assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder in April 2007 in Isabella County
• Pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon in January 2005 in Gratiot County
• Pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon in January 2005 in Gratiot County, but the charge was dropped

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A Michigan prisons spokesman told the Associated Press that a parole board had no clear reason to reject a freedom request from Ramsey.

Prison records show Ramsey was paroled last summer after serving the minimum five years for assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

The maximum sentence is 15 years, and inmates are eligible for parole review after their minimum sentences.

Corrections Department spokesman Russ Marlan said Ramsey's prison conduct was "pretty good." Marlan says after release, Ramsey held a job and tested negative for drugs.

24 Hour News 8's Ryan Takeo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.