Thread: Search for Kidnapped Cop is 'Urgent'

Search for Kidnapped Cop
is 'Urgent'
Dozens of Officers Assist in Search

Updated: Wednesday, 19 Aug 2009, 4:40 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 19 Aug 2009, 9:04 AM CDT

* ANDREA WATKINS
* DOUG DELONY

WALLER COUNTY, Texas - More than a dozen law enforcement agencies, local, state and federal, are searching for a Katy ISD police officer believed kidnapped by a fellow officer. Deputies searched a storage facility for restraints and police-detecting electronic equipment.

Investigators say they have reason to believe the life of Katy Independent School District police officer Rachel Hillsman is in danger.

The Waller County Sheriff's department says Hillsman was forcibly taken, possibly in hand cuffs, by her former boyfriend, Officer Julio Reyes. This happened Tuesday just after 6 a.m. as Hillsman was leaving her mother's Waller County home.

Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith says information gathered since the abduction leads them to believe there was a certain amount of premeditation involved.

"We feel real strong that the possibility that he may be did not move very far," said Smith on Wednesday morning. "Being an officer, he knew what we were going to do when we first responded, and we're trying to check the area."

As part of their search Wednesday morning, the Waller County Sheriffs Office raided a storage facility in Brookshire. They are looking for restraints, camping equipment, weapons, security cameras, security audio and videotape, listening devices, scanners, and other items used to detect and evade law enforcement. They also looked for cell phone devices, GPS devices, tracking devices and any equipment or software associated with these devices

At press conference just after noon, the family of the female officer showed up at the command post and pleaded for the womans safe return.

Sheriff Smith says Reyes and Hillsman had a major argument Monday evening, and Reyes threatened Hillsman several times. Because of those threats, Smith says Hillsman and her two children stayed at Hillsman's mothers home that night.

When Hillsman left the house the next morning they believe Reyes was waiting for her at the bottom of the driveway.

Investigators say Hillsman had in the car with her, her 13-month-old daughter, fathered by Reyes, and her seven-year-old daughter. That younger daughter was the only witness to the abduction. Police say the girl told them Reyes and her mother got into some sort of physical fight before he took her away. Investigators found a small amount of blood in Hillsman's car but they aren't sure if it belonged to Hillsman or Reyes.

Sheriff Smith also says Reyes bought some items at a store prior to the abduction that gives them more evidence that this was premeditated. He wouldn't say what those items were, but he did say they were items that made them more concerned for Hillsman's safety.

More than 45 officers from at least 12 law enforcement agencies attended a 6am briefing on the search at the Brookshire Police Department. Sheriff Smith says the agencies helping with the investigation are Katy ISD, Houston, Brookshire, Bellville, and Sealy police departments. In addition to Waller, there are four other counties in the search: Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery, and Austin. Also in on the investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safey, Texas Rangers, the FBI and the U.S. Marshalls.

Investigators believe that Reyes and Hillsman are still in the area. Law enforcement agencies have set up several checkpoints between the Brazos River and Katy.

Sheriff Smith says there is a $25,000 reward in this case. Of this amount, $5,000 comes from Waller County Crimes Stoppers. The remaining $20,000 comes from private donations.

Anyone with information can call 979-826-8266.
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/lo ... cer_search


BROOKSHIRE, Texas — Authorities have surrounded a home in a small town outside of Houston and evacuated nearby residents as they search for a 38-year-old man suspected of abducting his ex-girlfriend.

Both Julio Reyes and 24-year-old Rachel Hillsman are police officers with the Katy school district, just west of Houston.

Officials said it's not yet known if Reyes was with Hillsman in the house in Brookshire, about eight miles east of Katy.

Investigators said Reyes abducted Hillsman, in front of her two young children Tuesday morning in Brookshire.

Shortly after Hillsman's abduction, officials launched a statewide manhunt with more than a dozen law enforcement agencies — local, state and federal — and established roadblocks in the Brookshire area, MyFOXHouston.com reported.

Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith said Hillsman and her two children stayed at her mother's home Monday after Reyes threatened her during an argument home that night, MyFOXHouston.com reported.

Investigators said he was waiting for her at the bottom of the driveway the next morning. Their 7-year-old daughter told police her parents engaged in a physical altercation before Reyes took Hillman away, the TV station reported.

Sheriff Smith told the station Reyes also made some purchases before the abduction that imply that it was premeditated, he but would not reveal details on those items.

Authorities said Hillsman's abductor is armed and dangerous and they have reason to believe her life is in danger, MyFOXHouston.com reported.

Still, they said they hope to find Hillsman and unharmed.

"We feel real strong that the possibility that he may be did not move very far," Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith told MyFOXHouston. "Being an officer, he knew what we were going to do when we first responded, and we're trying to check the area."

Waller County Crimes Stoppers combined with private donors are offering a $25,000 reward in this case. Anyone with information can call 979-826-8266.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540 ... latestnews

Not married either. It sounds like a fling that went sour.