Elderly Clio man found in ditch, authorities suspect kidnapping

An elderly man from Clio was found in a Barbour County ditch Monday afternoon after apparently being kidnapped, according to Eddie Ingram, chief deputy of the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department.

A passing motorist noticed 69-year-old Jerry Norman Kendrick of Clio lying in a ditch near Poplar Springs Road in northern Barbour County, where he had apparently been left overnight.

“At about 2 o’clock, a motorist saw him sitting in the ditch. The motorist said it was hard to recognize him as being a human, he was so dirty from being in woods and apparently rolling around in the dirt,” Ingram said.

According to Ingram, Kendrick is lucky to have survived.

“We’re we’re fortunate we’re not dealing with a death,” Ingram said. “He was soaking wet, dirty and talking crazy when we first arrived. He was covered with insect bites and there were some signs of physical injury. If he’d been out there another night, I don’t think he’d have survived.”

Kendrick is being treated at Medical Center Barbour, according to Ingram, and is in stable condition. Authorities are now trying to determine exactly what happened to him.

Kendrick told sheriff’s officers he was headed home from church in Troy Sunday when he stopped at a gas station just south of Troy. He said he was approached by two men asking for a ride to Midway. After he obliged them, he claims they threatened him with a gun, forced him to drive to nothern Barbour County, then tied him up and stole his burgundy 1999 four-door Lincoln Town Car with Alabama tag AN49728.

The only problem with finding the culprits, Ingram said, is the victim’s state of mind.

“He can’t remember much about the suspects,” Ingram said. “What we got out of him we only got at the hospital after he settled down and they gave him fluids.

He’s not able to provide a whole lot of information for us, and we still have no leads on the car. Officers checked the area thoroughly, we sent deputies down roads looking for any signs of the car.”

According to Ingram, the sheriff’s department is working under the belief that Kendrick’s story is true.

“We know something definitely happened to the man, and I do believe he was in the company of those suspects. It would have been virtually impossible for him to walk all that way. Somebody would’ve seen him. We feel like he was taken there, we don’t feel it’s a case that he just wandered off,” Ingram said. “He had been in that heat from yesterday afternoon around 2:30, and he just wasn’t thinking right, being that age and not in good condition at all. After they treat him and he rests a while, we’re hoping he’ll provide a little more detailed information.”

Right now, the best hope for a break in the case lies with the vehicle, which the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department now considers stolen.

“Any information is appreciated, especially on the vehicle, because I believe that car is going to be the key to this thing,” Ingram said.

Ingram said the kidnapping is believed to have happened at about 1:30 Sunday afternoon.

Barbour County Sheriff Leroy Upshaw described Kendrick as a six-foot-one, 260-pound with “gray balding hair and a neat beard.”

“He had on a white T-shirt with a “Jesus Saves” logo on the front and tan pants at the time of the alleged abduction,” Upshaw said.

Anyone with information can contact the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department at (334) 775-3434 or Ingram at (334) 232-1812.