Man shot dead as kidnapped girls found

Two teenage girls who were abducted at gunpoint early yesterday from a lovers' lane were rescued 12 hours later and their kidnapper shot dead by police officers.

Larry Waldie, Los Angeles county assistant sheriff, said: "The girls are safe in the custody of Kern County."

Tamara Brooks, 16, and Jacqueline Marris, 17, were abducted at about 1am in the Quartz Hill area of Los Angeles county by a gunman who left the girls' dates bound with duct tape. The crime set off a manhunt across the South-west.

The kidnapper was identified as Roy Ratliff, who was wanted on unrelated rape charges.

Commander Chris Davis of Kern County sheriffs said officers, acting on a tip-off, spotted the kidnapper's vehicle and pursued it. Ratliff resisted and was shot by officers, Commander Davis said.

The girls were found near Lake Isabella in Kern County. Friends and relatives at the sheriff's command centre wept with joy and hugged each other when they learnt the girls were safe. A friend, Erika Bermudez, said: "There are seven of us that always hang with each other, so if one of us is down, we are always there to help one another."