FLORENCE CO, SC (WBTW) – An affidavit obtained by News13 provides new details on a kidnapping case that came to an end in Florence County.
A woman received a video call from her daughter, who said she had been kidnapped by an unknown man, according to the affidavit from the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. She said her daughter left Memphis to live with her boyfriend in Savannah, Ga., about two months before.
“Summerson stepped out
to speak with deputies,
at which time a female
screamed from inside
the semi that she had
been kidnapped.”
The daughter told her mother she had been assaulted by the man, according to the report, and the mother observed physical injuries to her daughter’s face. The daughter also said her boyfriend owed the man money and knew of their relationship.
The man soon demanded money from the mother to release the daughter and said he’d kill the daughter if he didn’t receive the money, the affidavit states.
The report details the following events:
- Around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, a Facebook account by the name of the daughter’s boyfriend called the mother, demanding $2,000 be deposited into an app as a ransom payment.
- The mother was moved into a conference room at FBI-Memphis and interviewed.
- While the mother was there, she received several Facebook Messenger calls from the same Facebook page.
- Those phone calls were recorded and during these “communications” between the man and the mother, the man “made known that” he had “physical custody” of the daughter and wouldn’t let her leave until he received money.
The man informed the mother that her daughter was being held to “ensure” the daughter’s boyfriend repaid $5,000 he owed to the man’s boss, the affidavit further said. The man’s boss was allegedly looking for the boyfriend for about two years, found him, and the man was going to find people the boyfriend knew “to hold captive” until the boyfriend paid the money.
Subscriber information in reference to the Facebook account was requested from Facebook, which showed the account’s listed phone number was that of the daughter, according to the affidavit. T-Mobile was then contacted and because the phone was turned off, its location couldn’t be determined.
Events continued as outlined in the affidavit:
- The man told the mother once he received the money, he’d drop off the daughter at a bus station.
- The mother tried to gather the money, but had told the subject she had the money.
- When the subject found out the mother didn’t have all the money, he allegedly stated “you lied to me three times. If you lie again, there will be consequences” and “please do not lie to me again.”
- The mother then asked the subject “something to the effect of ‘how much more money do I need to send for you to let my daughter out of your truck’ and the subject replied ‘$900. If you lie to me again, it goes up to $2,000.'”
The mother had previously seen an image of her daughter, in which the daughter appeared to have “bleeding, swelling, and bruising in the face from being struck,” adds the affidavit. The mother “made a statement to the effect of, ‘i’ll get you the money, just please don’t hit my daughter again.'” The man “made a comment to the effect of ‘that was just a love tap.'”
The man later sent the mother texts through the Facebook Messenger app “to the effect of ‘oh my God. You Lied and played me three times; I’m done talking’ and ‘I gave you enough time. Times up.'”
The man gave the mother a deadline to come up with the money and instructed her not to call unless she had the money to send, the affidavit continues. If the mother wasn’t able to get the money, the man was allegedly going to turn the daughter over to the people the daughter’s boyfriend owed money to. No further contact was made with the man or the daughter.
Subscriber information for the cash app was requested and it was advised that the phone number on the account used was a Google Voice number, states the affidavit. Other subscriber information revealed an additional phone number, an email, a 1995 date of birth and a Dillon, SC address. Google was contacted for information related to the phone number and a name for that number was provided. AT&T was then contacted, who advised the phone was located in Florence, South Carolina.
The boyfriend was interviewed by FBI agents in Savannah and he provided information that the daughter had been picked up in a black semi-truck with a white trailer on the night she was kidnapped, the affidavit adds. “Open sources searches” revealed “a photograph of a black semi-truck with the logo Summerson Transport, Dillon, SC, on the door.” A task force officer with the Tennessee Highway Patrol was contacted and listed the driver of the truck was Brian T. Summerson. Authorities in Florence where contacted to look for the semi-truck and the Florence Co. Sheriff’s Office advised agents in Memphis they had found the semi-truck in a business.
“Agents requested that the Sheriff’s Office make contact with the occupants to check on their welfare. Deputies made contact with the driver, identified as Brian Summerson, and asked if he would step out of the vehicle,” stated the affidavit. “Summerson stepped out to speak with deputies, at which time a female screamed from inside the semi that she had been kidnapped.”
“After a scuffle with deputies, Brian Summerson was taken into custody,” the affidavit also said. The woman inside the truck was identified as the daughter and taken to the hospital with injuries to her face.
Summerson is expected in court Thursday afternoon for a detention hearing. He remains in the Florence County Detention Center.
Count on News13 for updates.
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