Kidnapped Vermont Woman Was Bound, Tortured For Hours — Until She Stole Her Captor's Truck And Fled, Cops Say

A Vermont woman took control of a scary situation when she stole her alleged kidnappers’ truck and drove herself to safety after she was snatched from the side of a road, bound with duct tape and intimidated for several hours, according to authorities.

Around 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 23, emergency personnel responded to a report of a woman in a vehicle with her hands duct-taped together and her head partially covered with a bag and tape, Vermont State Police said.

First responders were able to free the victim and she was taken to a nearby hospital, where she told detectives she was grabbed from a roadside in the nearby town Peacham.

According to the victim, her abductor drove her around the Peacham and Danville area in the truck for several hours, during which time she was restrained and the man was threatening her life, police said.

When the man left the woman alone in the truck, she managed to partially break free from her restraints, get behind the wheel of the truck and drive to safety.

An investigation later determined the vehicle belonged to Mack Varnum, 45, police said.

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On Feb. 24, the two alleged kidnappers, Varnum and Nichole Cloutier, 36, were arrested at Varnum’s home, which was located not far from the spot where the victim said she was grabbed, according to police.

Both suspects were booked into the Northeast Regional Correctional Center without bail on charges of unlawful restraint, kidnapping, and aggravated assault.

Varnum was also charged with attempted first-degree murder.

A charging affidavit obtained by Vermont Digger states the victim told detectives she had stolen an AR-15 firearm from Varnum the month before the abduction and then sold it "to an out of state drug dealer" for $300.

“She stated that Varnum was upset about his gun being sold and that she was supposed to get the AR back, but that she couldn’t," police alleged in the document.