The father of a woman who vanished from her boyfriend’s home in California is imploring her kidnappers not to harm her.
Police say kidnappers who seized Denise Louise Huskins, 29, from the Bay Area home are holding her for ransom.
“Don’t hurt her, please don’t hurt her,” her father, Mike Huskins, told CNN affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco.
“The biggest fear is the horror she might be going through … that’s my biggest fear. The horror, she doesn’t deserve that, not from anybody.”
Abductors seized Huskins from Vallejo early Monday morning, authorities said.
“It’s like a nightmare that I can’t wake up from,” her father told the affiliate. “This is not supposed to happen.”
The man whose home she was taken from is not a suspect in the case, said Vallejo police Lt. Kenny Park. He declined to comment on the relationship between the two or the amount of ransom demanded.
Mike Huskins said the two, who both work as physical therapists at a hospital, had been dating for seven months.
As more time passes, the urgency to find Denise Huskins grows, with dozens combing through nearby woods and on Mare Island, looking for her.
On Tuesday, search teams focused on the Mare Island waterfront, where a mass consistent with the size of an adult body might have been submerged, said Capt. James O’Connell in a statement.
Dive teams were deployed, but the underwater search yielded nothing, O’Connell said Wednesday. Mare Island is part of Vallejo.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle received information from someone claiming to be the kidnapper, said Editor-in-Chief Audrey Cooper.
“The Chronicle’s No. 1 priority is to get Ms. Huskins back with her family as soon as possible,” Cooper said. “Insofar as it helps ensure Ms. Huskins’ safety, we wish to keep that line of communication open, which is why, at this time, we will not release any additional information about the nature of the communication.”
Police are asking for the public’s help in locating Huskins, who is 5 feet 7 inches, weighs 150 pounds and has blond hair and blue eyes.