SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. – Police are looking for a man wanted in connection with a reported kidnapping in Redding, California.
On Monday, a woman wearing only a pair of shorts was found by people looking for a Christmas tree in a rural area of Shasta County near Hat Creek and Eskimo Hill. The 25-year-old woman was suffering from exposure and was taken to a nearby hospital. Her identity is being withheld by investigators.
According to the woman, she was taken by force from the area of Mistletoe Lane and Victor Avenue in Redding on the afternoon of November 26. The people who allegedly kidnapped the woman were known to her, identified as 33-year-old Johanna Knighten and 44-year-old Fred Sanderson, both are Redding residents.
The victim told investigators the pair put her in Knighten’s white van where she was physically assaulted and held against her will by Sanderson. The woman believes Sanderson thought she stole drugs from him.
When they arrived at a remote location about 6 miles from Highway 44, the woman was reportedly told to undress and was abandoned wearing only her shorts. She didn’t know where she was and had no way to communicate or get help.
RPD said the woman was exposed to extremely cold temperatures along with rain and snow. She used a burned-out tree for shelter and drank water from a mud puddle until she was finally rescued the next day.
Knighten was located by police and arrested without incident in downtown Redding on November 28. She was booked into the Shasta County Jail on charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and conspiracy.
Sanderson is still on the loose. He’s described by police as a white man, 6’2” tall, 250 pounds with short or shaved blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about Sanderson’s location is asked to call the police.
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