Kidnap victim home after multistate ordeal

As he laid bound, blindfolded and gagged in the back of his own Jeep Cherokee, David B. Clark prayed he would see his family again.

Kidnapped at gunpoint Monday night by unknown assailants, the Round Lake man's wish came true three days later -- but not before a 1,400-mile trek that ended near the Mexican border.

"I'm very fortunate to be able to come home," Clark, 33, said Friday during a brief and emotional news conference. "For whatever reason they spared my life, and I'm very happy."

Police in Laredo, Texas, the city at the Mexican border where Clark's journey ended, called the kidnapping incredible but said they have no reason to doubt his story.

"It's hard to believe that someone would go through an experience like that and live to tell about it," Laredo police spokesman Joe Baeza said.

Clark's wife, Jeanne, said she knew the terrifying ordeal could've had a tragic outcome.

"We're just focusing on the fact that he's home safe, and (we're) trying to put the pieces back together," she said.

Clark was abducted Monday in a parking lot near the intersection of routes 45 and 60 in Mundelein, police said. He was heading home from the restaurant he owns in Vernon Hills, McCarthy's, police said.

Fresh from getting gas at a nearby station, Clark stopped his Jeep to check the brakes, which his wife had complained about earlier, he said. Once he was outside the Jeep, a man armed with a handgun approached from behind, forced him back into the car and made him drive away, Clark said.

They stopped to pick up another kidnapper in the Bolingbrook area, he said. The kidnappers then bound Clark's hands and feet with duct tape, blindfolded him, gagged him and put him in the back of the Jeep, police said.

During the drive to Laredo, the kidnappers gave Clark water only once, he told police. They never fed him and mostly spoke in Spanish to each other, he said.

"One guy spoke a little English to me," Clark recalled. "There wasn't a lot of communication."

Clark -- reported missing Tuesday by his wife -- woke up alone in the Jeep early Wednesday. He was in a Laredo shopping center but didn't know that, police said.

He freed himself and called 911 from a nearby pay phone. The spot was about a mile from the Laredo police station, Baeza said.

Clark was disoriented when police found him, Baeza said. The kidnappers left with $1,000, a computer, a cellular phone and Clark's wallet, police said.

Clark was treated at a Texas hospital for dehydration but was not seriously injured. He returned home by plane early Thursday.

Cars stolen from other towns often are found in Laredo, Baeza said. The kidnappers may have wanted the Jeep to get to the Mexico border, he said.

They may have kidnapped Clark rather than only taking the Jeep to keep him from reporting the theft before they left the country, Baeza said.

On Friday, Clark said he didn't recognize either kidnapper. He doubts he was targeted.

"I think they just wanted my vehicle," he said.

Although the family is shaken, Jeanne Clark said their children think David is a hero.

The kidnappers were described as 28 to 35 years old, Mundelein police said.

One was about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 215 pounds, and he had a dark complexion. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a black shirt with a red logo on the chest, a black baseball cap and black fingerless gloves.

The other kidnapper was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 140 pounds, Clark told police. He was thin and had a fair complexion and a thin mustache. He was wearing stone-washed jeans and a dark gray T-shirt and spoke broken English, police reported.

Mundelein police and the FBI are investigating. Anyone with information can call police at (847) 968-4600 or the FBI at (312) 421-6700.