Teen jogger details her struggle to avoid abduction in Ligonier Township

Madeline Smith knew she had little choice but to fight her attacker as he attempted to force her at gunpoint into his car on a cold Sunday morning in January.

“I figured I might as well fight. I was terrified. I knew he was going to get me into his vehicle. I was afraid he was going to take me away and kill me,” Smith testified Tuesday in a Westmoreland County courtroom.

Frank Springer, 56, of Bolivar is on trial, accused of attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful restraint and making terroristic threats against Smith, a then-18-year-old college student and triathlete who was home on winter break and claimed she was attacked while out for a run Jan. 8.

Smith, now 19, of Ligonier told jurors she defended herself against Springer, who confronted her on a secluded section of Hunter Trail Road near the entrance of the Rolling Rock Club on Route 381 in Ligonier Township.

She said Springer’s rusted green vehicle passed her and stopped in the middle of the road. Springer stood in her path, pointed and fired one round into the ground in front of her and demanded she approach his vehicle, she said. As she moved toward Springer, he threw her cellphone into the Loyalhanna Creek and started to push her toward the trunk of the car.

Smith fought back, grabbed the barrel of the gun and part of Springer’s hand. The weapon fired twice during the scuffle, and Springer threatened to shoot her in the head if she continued to fight, she told jurors.

“I’m a Christian, and I started praying. He started laughing, then he grabbed me again and throws me off of the car and onto the ground. He pushed me on the ground. I kept saying, ‘Please God, please God. Help me,’ ” Smith testified.

Springer wedged her against the car and attempted to open the door, she said.

As Smith fell to the ground, a car drove by.

Candice Springer, no relation to the defendant, told jurors she and her husband, Jay, were driving to church from their home in Rector when they saw a disturbance.

“I looked over and saw a car backed into the lane. It caught my eye, a person waving their hands. I thought it was a woman,” Candice Springer testified.

They circled back and stopped as Smith and her attacker continued to fight.

“A woman ran up to the car, frantically, and she said she needed help, a man was trying to get me and had a gun. I said get into the car,” Candice Springer told jurors.

Prosecutors said the couple drove off with Smith and called police.

“My whole goal was to stay out of the car. I knew people disappear and end up dead in a field somewhere,” Smith testified.

Investigators identified Frank Springer as a suspect based on Smith’s description of the vehicle and through video surveillance in Ligonier. Westmoreland County Detective John Clark testified video showed Smith’s run through the borough and of a car that matched her description follow her at several points during her run.

Clark said the vehicle’s license plate led them to Frank Springer.

Tire tracks at the scene of the attempted abduction matched Springer’s 1994 Buick LeSabre, according to state police Sgt. Anthony DeLucio.

Smudge marks found on the door frame of Springer’s car were consistent with prints left by black gloves Smith wore during the attack, DeLucio testified.

Prosecutors are expected to complete their case against Springer when the trial resumes Wednesday.