Kathleen Atkins -- FOUND

[LadyBlue]

Clearwater, Florida - Friends describe Kathleen Atkins as a very reliable and responsible person. That's why they say it's out of character for the 44-year-old woman to be gone Monday morning, with no word on where she might
have gone.

Atkins, who lives at 115 N. Jupiter Ave. in Clearwater, runs a daycare out of her home. On Monday morning when one of the parents arrived to drop off their child, Atkins' front door was open but there was no sign of the woman. In fact, police say her cell phone and wallet were inside the house. The only thing missing along with Atkins was her 2004 Dodge Ram pick-up.

After searching the house for several hours, Clearwater Police issued at statewide bulletin for Atkins. Authorities have now listed her as "missing and endangered."

Atkins' mother tells Tampa Bay's 10 News she saw her daughter on Sunday and everything seemed fine. Atkins lives alone and friends describe her as always happy, out-going and very dependable.

On Monday night, officials were still looking for clues to Atkins' whereabouts.

www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=26931

[LadyBlue]

[glow=red,2,300]Missing Woman Returns Claiming She Was Kidnapped[/glow]
POLK CITY -- A Clearwater woman, who had been reported missing since early Monday, was found in Polk City on Tuesday.

About 10:30 a.m., Kathleen M. Atkins, 44, walked up to 19-year-old Matthew Davis' mobile home and pleaded with him to call 911.

"I was sitting on my porch smoking a cigarette, and I saw this woman staggering," Davis said.

Atkins was draped in a comforter and wore a flannel shirt and jeans looking "disheveled," Davis said. He gave Atkins water, orange juice and crackers as she told him how she had been abducted.

Atkins said a man wearing a ski mask and gloves abducted her from her Clearwater home and drugged her, Davis said.

Atkins told Davis the man wrapped her in a comforter and put her in the bed of her 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup.

She later told Clearwater police that a black man, wearing a mask, woke her up early Monday and put his hand over her mouth, police spokesman Wayne Shelor said Tuesday night.

"She said she was kidnapped by a total stranger," Shelor said.

Shelor said Clearwater police are launching an "aggressive" investigation but have few details about the suspect.

Atkins told police the man put pills in her mouth and squirted water in her mouth to swallow them, Shelor said. She told police she fell in and out of consciousness while the man drove and then the truck finally stopped.

The charcoal gray truck was parked in a wooded area, just off State Road 33 and across from Davis' mobile home. Davis had noticed the parked truck but said he didn't think anything of it.

Atkins told Davis she heard cars and screamed for help but no one heard her. Atkins told him she wiggled free from the comforter and pulled the emergency cord on the truck bed to escape, Davis said.

Atkins, who provides day care at her home, was reported missing Monday morning when a parent found her gone and her door was open. Her wallet and cell phone were inside the home, but her truck was gone.

Polk deputies took Atkins to Lakeland Regional Medical Center on Tuesday morning, and she was released later in the day.

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