Missing UP Woman Found Safe; Sex Offender Taken Into Custody

click to expand

MUNISING (WWJ) - An Upper Peninsula woman who disappeared last weekend with a convicted felon and sex offender has been found safe, and her suspected captor is now in custody.

(Facebook photo)

Michigan State Police say 28-year-old LeeAnn Wilmoth was found unharmed early Friday morning after a week-long search. Eric Ruska, who Wilmoth described as a "friend from work," was taken into custody without incident. The pair was located together at a gas station in Munising.

Wilmoth is currently at the hospital for evaluation. Police say she was "definitely" held against her will. Charges against Ruska are pending.

Wilmoth, of Cooks, Mich., told her family on Sunday she was going fishing in Munising with Ruska. When she failed to return, her family became worried -- especially because of Ruska's past.

(Photo: Michigan Department of Corrections)

Ruska, 37, spent 11 years in prison for kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct. Michigan Department of Corrections records show he also has a 2002 conviction for assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

Wilmoth's family found her truck at the camp site near Chicago Lake in northeast Delta County, off County Road 442 in the Hiawatha National Forest, but she was nowhere to be found. Police said Ruska's boat was also found nearby.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest.