ST. LOUIS, MO – A peculiar phone call made by alert hotel staff to the local police resulted in the liberation of two women held captive in their hotel rooms. The victims, one 21 and the other 36, seized a rare opportunity to seek help from the hotel employees when their alleged abductors momentarily left them unattended.
The distressing saga began under the guise of a moving job in Florida and escalated into a 10-day nightmare. The suspects, numbering three, reportedly moved the victims from Florida to Atlanta, and eventually to St. Louis. The victims were left terrified, unsure of what would transpire next.
Sgt. Charles Wall, a representative for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, revealed that the victims were informed of their captivity only upon reaching Atlanta, Georgia. The duration of the victims’ stay at the Hampton Inn hotel in downtown St. Louis remains undisclosed by the police.
Following an alert from the hotel staff, one of the suspects, Nikki Rebarcak, 41, was apprehended. She was charged with two counts of kidnapping and subsequently released on her own recognizance. However, two other male suspects remain at large.
The incident has triggered alarms about a potential human trafficking operation. St. Louis police are joining forces with federal law enforcement and prosecutors to ascertain if this case is an isolated incident or part of a larger criminal syndicate. One of Rebarcak’s alleged co-conspirators has been identified by the police, who are actively pursuing him.
The hotel management has yet to respond to requests for comment. The authorities have not revealed the specifics of the victims’ captivity.