Woman drugged,escaped from ex-boyfriend

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The 25-year-old Byron Center woman who disappeared with her ex-boyfriend this weekend says he threatened, hit and drugged her in their trek to New York.

On Tuesday, Raquel Mayhanagian filed a personal protection order against Travis Ghent, who she had dated on and off for years.

She's not the first ex-girlfriend who has had to ask for protection.

Mayhanagian said when she broke up with Ghent last week, he showed up at her house and was abusive, shattering her cell phone and trapping her in his car. On Friday, Ghent drove toward Cadillac and hit her multiple times when she tried to flag a man down for help.

"I was screaming and crying and unable to calm down, so (Ghent) forced me to take several pills," she wrote in the affidavit. "I eventually passed out, and I woke up a few times while we headed east out of Michigan."

Mayhanagian was able to escape in New York and went to the airport, calling her father immediately. He booked her a flight home. She flew from Connecticut into Grand Rapids on Sunday evening. She had been reported missing since Friday.

Another woman, who also filed a PPO against Ghent, wrote of similar abuse and threats. She broke up with him last summer.

"(The) first assault against me was Feb. 14," she wrote in the PPO. "He shoved me on the ground, threw me over a couch and then choked me with both hands around my neck. I was scratching at him to get him off. He also broke my phone that night."

Mayhanagian is a Grandville graduate who works at Farmers Insurance and attended Davenport University, according to her Facebook page.

Ghent, 25, lives in Jenison. He was booked Tuesday at the Kent County jail and is in custody. There is no word yet on his charges.

24 Hour News 8 will continue to follow this developing story.