COVID test requirement prevents kidnapper from fleeing US through Canadian border

It was after having their car turned around that a girl was able to tell authorities that the suspect "held her against her will."

The saga is outlined at length in Connecticut’s Hartford Courant newspaper. The 16-year-old girl met 19-year-old Christopher Constanzo through a mutual friend. Last Wednesday, after voluntarily meeting up with him in the first place – the girl was sexually assaulted and locked in the trunk of her mother’s car until the early morning hours of Thursday.

The suspect sexually assaulted the girl again amidst this impromptu trip Constanzo took them both on, upwards through Colchester, Vermont where security footage from a Maplefields convenience store filmed Constanzo passing through the area.

Other local reporting says it was at the convenience store where Constanzo took the girl out of the trunk and moved her up to the back seat for the final leg of the journey. But police are still looking into the lead and asking for witnesses to help corroborate further.

However it’s also alleged that Constanzo stole the girl’s phone and sent texts to contacts on her behalf, pretending to be her.

When they got to the border crossing, the COVID test requirement inadvertently saved the day.

As the Courant describes:

"As they approached the crossing at Highgate Springs, Vermont, Constanzo told the girl to ‘act normal’ and ‘go along with the story,’ the affidavit says. He told Canadian border officials at the Saint-Armand Philipsburg crossing that the girl was his sister and they planned to visit friends in Canada and stay for about four days, U.S. officials said. But Canadian officials turned them away because both lacked proof of COVID-19 tests, U.S. officials said."

After being turned away, border authorities on the American side were able to detain both the female victim and Constanzo. They found a shoe whose lace was used to restrain the 16-year-old and officials found a knife on the suspect’s person.

Hartford Courant adds that the potential motive for Constanzo was he was fleeing the country in relation to another sexual assault complaint dated for back in July that authorities began closing in on in November.

Christopher Costanzo faces kidnapping charges at a Tuesday hearing in the U.S. District Court of Burlington.