By  Seamus McGraw

(Continued)

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Courageous Elizabeth Shoaf engineers her own rescue

Then last Wednesday, in what stunned family members and observers have described as an act of immense courage and great presence of mind, Elizabeth snatched Filyaw's cell phone as he dozed and sent a furtive text message to her mother, describing as best she could, the location where she was being held.

Investigators traced the call to Filyaw's cell phone, and immediately realized that Elizabeth's kidnapper was, in all likelihood, the same suspected sex offender who had eluded them months before.

Vinson Filyaw's Trailer

Using the signal from a nearby cell tower to triangulate her location, authorities began scouring the area and by Saturday morning, they rescued her. Among other things, including Filyaw's customary cache of porn, authorities found homemade grenades, and incendiary devices fashioned out of black powder extracted from fireworks, along with flares.

They did not, however, find Filyaw — at least not at first.

As he had the last time, Filyaw had slipped away before authorities could grab him. This time, however, his flight would be short lived. With no car, and apparently no money to get out of town, Filyaw reportedly to light out on foot, armed with a pellet gun, a knife, and what authorities believe to be the same handcuffs he allegedly used to restrain Elizabeth.

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