Two kidnapping suspects identified; report reveals alleged victim subjected to physical, sexual abuse

Laura Evelene Sorensen (left) and Aldair Hodza (right) accepted a plea deal during federal court proceedings in Richmond that stemmed from a Iowa kidnapping that resulted in their arrest on Jan. 6.

Identities have been released of the man and woman taken into custody in New Kent County for an apparent out-of-state kidnapping involving a young woman. And the incident report filed by a State Police investigator reveals a nightmarish scene in which the alleged victim told police she endured torture, starvation, and sexual abuse at the hands of the suspects.

Aldair Hodza and Laura Evelene Sorensen, (ages not available) both of Clive, Iowa, appeared for appointment of counsel Wednesday in New Kent General District Court. Both are charged with one count of abduction with intent to defile. They are being held in jail pending their next court appearance, a preliminary hearing tentatively set for Feb. 11.

Both were arrested Tuesday after an alert truck driver notified the New Kent Sheriff’s Office concerning suspicious activity at the Pilot truck stop on Route 106 near the Interstate 64/Talleysville interchange in New Kent.

The truck driver reported that the male suspect exited a RV with Iowa plates parked nearby and entered the truck stop’s convenience store on multiple occasions over a short period of time. The driver then spotted a young woman peering out of one of the RV’s windows. Someone inside the RV violently pulled the woman away from the window and a commotion ensued inside the vehicle.

According to the incident report, officers arrived on scene at 3:20 p.m. and were allowed inside the RV by the occupants, who said they were in the area on vacation and to visit Sorenson’s daughter. The officers, however, observed that the alleged victim appeared frightened and exhibited signs of malnutrition.

A State Police trooper took the young woman outside where she began to weep and beg the trooper not to let her return to the RV. She told the trooper she was being held against her will and had been abused sexually and physically by the suspects. She also said the suspects threatened to kill or injure her family. She said she had infections all over her body and couldn’t remember the last time she had anything to eat or drink, adding that several days had passed.

After being placed in an ambulance, she told another investigator that the suspects had “branded” her on her back and had inflicted burns on other parts of her body along with lacerating her feet. She also said no one back home in Iowa considered her missing since the suspects forced her to communicate with family members, telling them that nothing out of the ordinary was taking place.

According to the report, she later told a State Police investigator she was forced to perform oral sex on Hodza, whom she called “John,” and another unknown male that same day inside the RV at the Pilot parking lot. The encounter had been arranged through a Craigslist ad.

The nature of the relationship between the victim and the suspects is unclear at this time.