The FBI has stated that it is searching for potential victims in other states after a lady managed to escape from a makeshift “dungeon” made of cinder blocks in a man’s Oregon home.
According to a press release from the FBI Portland Field Office, the man, 29-year-old Negasi Zuberi, was placed into federal custody on suspicion of kidnapping across state lines after a woman from Seattle escaped from his house in Klamath Falls, Oregon. According to the FBI, the woman also claimed to have been sexually abused.
According to the FBI, Zuberi, who has resided in at least 10 different states since 2016, has been connected to violent assaults in at least four of those jurisdictions. According to the agency, there is evidence to suspect that there may be more than one victim.
According to court documents released on Wednesday, a grand jury in Oregon indicted him on one count of kidnapping and one count of transportation with the intent to engage in sexual behaviour.
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Heather Fraley, Zuberi’s attorney, told CNN on Wednesday that she had nothing further to add.According to a press release from the FBI, Zuberi left his residence in Klamath Falls on July 15 and travelled to Seattle where he pretended to be an undercover police officer in order to hire a prostitute. The victim claimed Zuberi used a Taser on her, handcuffed her, put leg irons on her, and then put her in the back seat of his car, according to the FBI.
According to a news release from the Klamath Falls Police Department, “Zuberi told the victim she was under arrest.”
The victim claimed Zuberi had a gun, police ID, a taser, and other tools of the trade.
The girl informed authorities that he then drove back to his Klamath Falls residence, more than 450 miles away, stopping along the way to sexually abuse her.
According to an affidavit read by CNN, the woman saw a map application on the suspect’s mobile during the journey that showed they were 2 hours and 4 minutes away from the intended destination. The victim “knew at that point that Zuberi was not a police officer and that she was being kidnapped,” according to the affidavit.
When he got to the house, he barred the metal door from the outside and put the woman in “a makeshift cell he had constructed in his garage” out of cinder blocks, according to the FBI.
According to the news release, the woman told officials that she continuously knocked on the door until she was able to force her way out of the jail.
“The victim said she knew Zuberi would kill her if she stayed in the room,” police reported. “The victim started kicking the security door’s screen. The victim was successful in removing the metal screen material from the screen door by breaking the welds. The victim then managed to flee by scaling a small gap in the door.