HALIFAX TOWNSHIP, DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. -- A woman is missing after police say she was kidnapped from a Dauphin County motel room in the middle of the night — by a former boyfriend.
Police say that 49-year-old Jean Howell was staying at 'Red Rose Motel' with her husband and was taken at knife point from her room.
“We were just terrified," said Steven Howell, husband. "I was thinking am I going to die or what," he added.
Those are the thoughts that went through Steven Howell’s head when he and his wife, Jean Howell were woken up at midnight to a knock on their motel door.
It was 62-year-old Reginald Reaves, a former boyfriend of his wife, with a history of harassment, according to court documents.
Howell says when he opened the door and realized Reaves had a butcher knife in his hand, that’s when things took a turn for the worse.
“I’d probably say it was around 8 to 10 inches, maybe bigger," added Howell. “My wife got up and said what are you doing here, who told you that we were here," said Howell.
“She told me to grab the phone and I back handed it to her so she could dial 9-1-1 and that’s when he started slugging me," he added.
That’s when Howell says Reaves started yelling at his wife, grabbing her and forcing her with him down North River Road, headed South.
“Get dressed, get dressed, he told her, you’re going with me, you’ve got two choices, stay here or die, go with me, live," he said.
In the room next door, Shawnee Miller and her husband heard screaming, prompting them to look outside.
“My husband opened up the door and said ‘yo’ but he wouldn’t look back and she did but she was so terrified and scared," said Shawnee Miller, motel neighbor.
“I guess he still has feelings for her," said Howell. “It’s hard as heck, we are soulmates, I love her to death, she loves me to death. I said to the police I fear for his life because I know how he is," added Howell.
Jean Howell is 5'4 and 145 pounds. She was last seen wearing a teal tank top, blue jeans and pink flip flops.
Reaves was last seen driving a dark colored Ford Explorer.
**UPDATE**: After an investigation following when this story aired, Pennsylvania State Police determined that Reaves may be driving a white Honda CRV with an Army sticker on the rear bumper just under the regular plate. The license on that vehicle reads: KTA835.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police immediately by calling 911 or The PA State Police Lykens at: (717) 362-8700.
