A 52-year-old Houston man was arrested after he allegedly kidnapped a woman off the street and held her captive in his garage for at least four years, according to authorities.
Lee Carter, charged with aggravated kidnapping last April, was arrested by Texas police on Thursday. Officials have not disclosed a reason for the nine-month gap, local station KHOU reported. He remained in jail on a $100,000 bond as of Sunday night, according to online records.
On April 7, 2023, officers responded to a kidnapping in progress at a south Houston home to find a woman who looked “extremely malnourished” and “filthy,” according to a complaint. They also found a makeshift toilet that did not work, a mattress covered with “fresh vomit,” a box of chips, a few Twinkies, and diapers.
The woman told police that Carter had abducted her four or five years ago, after he approached her on the street while she was pregnant and panhandling and promised to help her. Instead, she said, he drove them back to his home and locked her up in his garage.
The woman was kept for years on the property, she told police, and was routinely forced to have sex with Carter, who fed her drugs, including crack cocaine, and chips and other snacks. She rarely got a proper meal, she said, according to the complaint.
“It makes me sick as a human being,” Houston Police Department Commander Michael Collins told KTRK.
The woman, who said she begged Carter to free her every day, staged several escape attempts and even made contact with police prior to her rescue in April. Every time—including one instance in which she was taken to the hospital—Carter recaptured her.
It is not clear what happened with the woman’s pregnancy; the court records make no mention of a child found in Carter’s home. Police are currently unsure as to the woman’s whereabouts.
Carter is a real estate broker in the process of obtaining a master’s degree in business administration, his attorney said, according to KTRK. He is reportedly also a rapper who performs under the stage name Viper.
“It’s just a creepy situation. We have no idea what’s really going on,” a neighbor told the station. “You can’t write this stuff. It’s strange to see with your own eyes.”