FRISCO — A Frisco teenager who disappeared after a muffled 911 call is back home with her family after being found 200 miles away in Oklahoma.
Bethany Stroud, 18, told police she escaped from a man who took her at gunpoint as she left Friday evening from her job as a ticket-taker at the Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco.
Her family said they are relieved she is back in Frisco, although questions are still swirling about what happened to the teenager.
"It's a private issue for us," said Bethany's dad, Alan Stroud, declining to comment on the circumstances of her disappearance. "We just want our family to kind of circle together and help her."
On Saturday night, 24 hours after vanishing, Stroud drove to a Braum's ice cream store in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Inside, she asked to borrow a cell phone and called police.
“What she reported to us is she was taken by a suspect at gunpoint in Texas, and she was left somewhere overnight,” said Muskogee police Cpl. Pedro Zardeneta.
The Lone Star High School senior told Oklahoma investigators she had been kidnapped at gunpoint from the parking lot at the Frisco arena. She said she tried to call for help, but the suspect caught on and removed her cell phone’s battery.
Dispatchers confirmed they received a 12-second 911 call from her cell phone at 9:51 p.m. Friday, but all they could hear was static.
Stroud told officers the suspect then briefly took her to a home before forcing her to drive for miles. She said she somehow managed to escape Saturday evening and then drove herself to the Oklahoma restaurant.
"If this is as horrific as it sounds, she’s very fortunate to get away," Cpl. Zardeneta said.
On Sunday, Frisco police refused to comment on the case, aside from saying they are investigating. Yet police refuse to release even basic information — such as a description of a suspect.
Stroud's family said she has a bruise on her left cheek, but is otherwise fine.
"She's doing good," Alan Stroud said. "We're just letting her stay in the house and rest and recover and kind of try to get back some normalcy."
E-mail jbetz@wfaa.com
