HOUSTON — A Houston man is in jail after being accused of kidnapping a woman and locking her in a single-car garage for nearly five years.
Lee Carter, 52, was charged with aggravated kidnapping in April 2023 but was just arrested Thursday. Police haven't said why it took so long to track Carter down but said they arrested him at a motel.
According to court documents, the woman told police that about four to five years ago, she was pregnant and needed help. She was panhandling on Almeda Genoa when Carter drove up next to her and gave her $1. He then drove off but returned and asked her if she needed help, court documents read.
The woman told police she was in a vulnerable state so she got in the car with Carter when he said he would help her. That's when Carter reportedly drove her to his home on Perry Street in southeast Houston and locked her in a garage for four to five years.
The woman said Carter would only feed her chips and snacks. She also accused him of forcing her to take drugs and have sex with him. The woman told police she would plead with Carter every day to let her go, but he would threaten her with physical violence. She told police the times she tried to get away, Carter would catch her and throw her back in the garage.
According to court documents, there were times that Carter would let the woman use his laptop. She said she used a texting app to communicate to police that she was being held against her will. Court documents said that police and firefighters were dispatched to the home at least once and they took the woman to the hospital, but Carter would pick her up and take her back to the garage.
On April 7, 2023, the woman made contact with police again, telling them she was being held captive, court documents read. When police made it to the home, they rescued the woman and noticed that the garage she said she was being held captive in had a makeshift toilet that did not flush, a mattress covered with fresh vomit, a box of assorted chips and a shelf with about four to five folded shirts and 10 to 15 diapers, court documents said. The woman told police she wanted to press charges against Carter and requested a protection order.
The woman's current whereabouts are unknown but neighbors who heard the news are hoping for the best.
"Like most folks, we couldn’t believe it number one," Spradley said. "And people live right across the street, next door and it’s kind of strange or odd to hear that they never saw anything strange or unusual."
Police returned to Carter's home Friday after the same woman recently told them there may be other people held captive.
"The concern is we possibly had an individual located inside this residence," said Houston Police Department Commander Michael Collins. "Perhaps locked inside."
There was no one found inside the home, but police said they removed a dog that had been left alive inside.
As for now, police haven’t given any indication of what happened to the woman's child or if there was a child, considering the woman claimed she was pregnant when she said she was kidnapped.
Carter was given a $100,000 bond. He is due back in court on Monday.