Police are searching for a 24-year-old New Jersey nurse who went missing late Tuesday night. Shanaya Coley was apparently stabbed and abducted from the parking lot of her apartment complex as she headed to work.
A witness called police to say Coley struggled with an attacker who stabbed her before she was thrown into her car which then sped off.
Coley’s father, William Coley, said he saw blood on the ground and in the grass near where his daughter parked her silver 2013 Nissan Altima.
Coley, who has a young son, was abducted in her car shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday, police said. The perpetrator also took Coley’s cellphone and her son’s Christmas gifts which were stored in the trunk of her car.
A second cellphone belonging to Coley was found in her apartment, NJ.com reported. Police are analyzing the phone to obtain phone numbers which might help in the investigation.
Co-workers at the assisted living facility where Coley worked the overnight shift said she was a good nurse who was never late for work.
William Coley said police told him that she had taken out a restraining order against someone.
William also told News 4 that he doesn’t know how to tell his 3-year-old grandson his mother is missing. “I don’t want to tell him just yet. I’m hoping for positive things to happen.”
He said he hopes that she will be home before his son’s 4th birthday on Dec. 23.