Family of woman killed while escaping kidnapper desperate for answers

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Family members of a woman killed 10 years ago while trying to escape her attacker are pleading with the public to come forward if they have any clues.

Susan Perkins was 34 years old when she had to fight for her life against an attacker, but ultimately lost.

Perkins was tinting the windows of a friend’s new spa on Maitland Avenue in 2004 when a man wearing a dark ski mask took Perkins and her friend at gunpoint and forced them into Perkins’ car.

Police said he made them drive to a bank to take out money, then put them in the trunk.

The women managed to use an emergency lever to open the trunk and frantically waved at drivers before jumping.

Perkins hit her head during the jump and later died.

Her abandoned car was found, but the assailant was not.

“I don’t think there has ever been that many leads that’s why it’s so important to get it back out and to the public,” said Perkins’ sister, Sara Wakefield. “I feel angry that this person that’s responsible for taking her from my life, from her son’s life, is still out there.”

Wakefield hopes the fact that Hurricane Jeanne was hitting central Florida at that time may jog someone’s memory.

“The hurricanes were rolling through. There were so many people out on the road,” she said.

Wakefield is also betting on one other thing that can lead to answers.

“I feel confident that he has shared with somebody what happened,” Wakefield said. “Do the right thing. It doesn’t matter that 10 years has gone by. We still want to know what happened and why it happened.”

Wakefield said the cameras that would have caught the man’s face wasn’t working at the time because of a corruption to the server, but police are hoping new technology will eventually help them view the old footage.

WFTV