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Kent couple helped 16-year-old girl escape attempted kidnapping

By Amy Clancy
By Amy Clancy

KENT, Wash. — A Kent woman and her husband did a simple thing: They gave an unknown teenager a ride, late at night.

"This girl just runs out in front of my car, hardly wearing any clothes, and we just locked eyes," Brandy Marchione remembers about the night she and her husband were driving down South 272nd Street in Kent.

According to investigators, the girl was the intended victim of 52-year old Kevin James Perkins.

"I knew what happened instantly.  It was just all in her eyes, like, 'I'm still fighting.  Get me out of here,'" Marchione told KIRO 7 on Friday.

Marchione said she didn't think twice about helping the unidentified 16-year old the night of Aug. 13. "She needed help and she needed help now, and I was just in the right place at the right time," she said.

She also knew that any details the girl could remember would help police.

"I kept asking her over and over again, 'How tall was he? What did he smell like? What did the car look like? What color was it?'  Every detail I thought the cops could ask, I kept asking her, going through it over and over again," Marchione said.

Because of the detailed description the girl later gave, a sketch of the suspect was made.

Perkins was arrested earlier this week and charged with attempted kidnapping.

Court documents reveal that before Marchione and her husband came along, at least three other drivers did not stop to help the girl, who was wearing only running tights and a bra.  Perkins had taken her sweatshirt and cellphone, according to police.  "I can't believe people just drove past her.  I wouldn't have left her there for a second.  That just kills me," Marchione said.

In addition to providing a detailed suspect description, the girl also had DNA under her fingernails from scratching her attacker's face.

Captain Monica Alexander, with the Washington State Patrol, told KIRO 7 the State Patrol Crime Lab put a rush on processing the DNA because of the danger to the community.

A match to Perkins, who is a convicted felon, was established just four weeks later.

"The fact that she scratched and got the DNA, that she remembered all those details -- I admire her," Marchione said about the girl, whose name she still doesn't know.  "She's 16.  She's going to be a strong woman, and I'm glad I got to know her for that little glimpse of time."

Marchione also said her husband walked home that night because he knew it would make the girl uncomfortable to sit in a car with a man she didn't know, because of what had just happened.  She said he simply said to the girl, "Get in" and then said to his wife, "Get her out of here."

Perkins is due back in court on Oct. 11.

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