Man who forced elderly victim to drive from S.C. to Salisbury convicted on kidnapping charge

A Seaford man was convicted and sentenced on Wednesday in the Wicomico County Circuit Court for kidnapping, the Office of the State's Attorney for Wicomico County announced.

Edward Ford Wright, 25, was sentenced to 30 years, with 20 years active incarceration in the Maryland Division of Corrections. After his release, he will have supervised probation, officials said.

Back on July 6, 2016, Wright approached an elderly victim in a Greenwood, S.C. Walmart parking lot.

Officials say Wright initially asked the victim to drive him to the airport, but pulled a knife on the victim once inside of the vehicle. From there, Wright told the victim to drive him all the way to Salisbury, a nearly 600 mile trip.

Investigators were able to use surveillance footage from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and other traffic cameras to conform the route taken.

The victim dropped Wright off at the Centre at Salisbury where Wright met his girlfriend and returned to Seaford, officials said.

The victim contacted police in Salisbury and Wright was later arrested at a home in Seaford by the U.S. Marshall's Apprehension Unit.

Authorities say they found the knife that Wright used to threaten the victim.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant State's Attorney Kristen M. Schultz.