Toilet graffiti leads to trucker's arrest

Police swooped on a lorry driver suspected of kidnap after a hi-tech chase sparked by messages scrawled on toilet walls.

Katina Shaddix said she had been beaten and held against her will by the driver for six months.

Won't let me out, beating me, this is no joke!

Message

She told police she had hidden a marker in her sock and written more than 30 messages in public toilets from New York to Tennessee.

The alarm was raised by maintenance worker Binford Aycock who saw one of the messages while cleaning a toilet at a rest-stop in McMinn County, Tennessee.

He called emergency services and told them the message read: "Won't let me out. Beating me, this is no joke!"

The message identified Ms Shaddix's "prison" as "Cannon truck 383" and officers then used a satellite global positioning system to trace the lorry.

They pinpointed its location 300 miles (480km) away to a rest area on Interstate 16 in Georgia and police then swarmed around the truck.

Ms Shaddix, who said she had no family, remains in hospital.

Fractured bones

Sergeant Gerald Frazier, of the Laurens County Sheriff's Department, said the woman was unable to give any details about herself, even her date of birth.

"She had internal injuries. She had some hairline fractures, or fractured bones. Bruises pretty much all over her body," he said.

Ms Shaddix, 24, told police she met the driver at a truck stop on the other side of the US in Washington state about a year ago.

She began travelling with him willingly, but wanted to leave about six months ago.

Aggravated assault

She said the man beat her and held her against her will, following her to the bathroom and waiting outside so she could not escape, authorities said.

Truck driver Shannon Jones, 26, of Delhi, New York, is being held without bail on a charge of aggravated assault.

Investigators said the case may be turned over to the FBI, and he could face additional charges.

Mr Jones has refused to speak to police.