“I Asked God: ‘Let Me Die' “

A badly bruised 75-year-old East County woman who was kidnapped and beaten described her horrifying ordeal in an exclusive interview with NBC.
 
La Mesa resident Sandy Herbst-Vinge was abducted from her home one week ago. 

"I thought I was going to die," Herbst-Vinge said. "I did -- that's when I was scared. That's when I asked God, you know, 'Let me die or get me out of this,' you know?"

Herbst-Vinge was abducted from her home one week ago. Investigators said a teenager who sold her a vacuum cleaner earlier that day at her La Mesa home returned, attacked her and put her into the back of her own car.

"He said his girlfriend had kicked him out and could he use my phone to call his mother ... I turned around and that's when he grabbed me from behind and choked me," Herbst-Vinge said in an interview on the Today Show.

That man and two other suspects drove around for more than 24 hours before officers pulled the car over after it went through a red light. Investigators said they also found a shovel in that car.

Herbst-Vinge was taken to Sharpe Memorial hospital and treated for her injuries. It was not a moment too soon, she said.

"I wouldn't have lasted long," she said.
 
Three teenagers were arrested in connection to the case: Luis Osborne, Jeffrey Nelson and Antoinette Baker. They face a host of charges, including robbery, kidnapping and torture. They have all pleaded not guilty and are due back in court Dec. 29.  Read the article on suspects' arraignment.

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