Still in the dark, detectives looked through their files for incidents of stranger assaults. They found one just five months before the Jackson abduction and the run-in with the Waldrops.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tuozzo were driving on a back road near Laurel, MD, in Prince George’s County on August 24, 1958. It was late, around 10:00 at night. As they motored along, chatting about their plans, Mr. Tuozzo spotted the headlights of another car behind them. He noticed with alarm that it approached them fast and erratically. Within moments, it was upon them. The driver forced them to the side of the road, where they pulled over and stopped.
Nervous and uncertain what to think, they waited. A tall young man slid across his front seat, jumped from his car on the passenger side, and approached them with something in his hand. It was a revolver. He demanded that Mr. Tuozzo get out and open the trunk of the car. Frightened, he obeyed. Then the stranger ordered him to climb into it. He resisted. He was not about to leave his wife exposed to this maniac.
“Get in!” The gunman insisted. “Or I’ll shoot you.”
Finally, Tuozzo did what he was told. His wife, June, panicked when she saw the stranger slam the trunk closed. She had no weapon and didn’t know what to do.
The man got into the driver’s seat. “Get down there,” he ordered, pointing the muzzle of his gun toward the passenger side floor. In tears, afraid for her life, June forced herself into the cramped space. It was difficult to keep an eye on him, but she watched as best she could.
He started the car, leaving his own behind, and drove for a while. June realized they were now in an even darker, more secluded area. She saw a lot of trees and felt the rough bumps of a dirt road.
“Please let us go,” June cried.
He ignored her.
After a while, he stopped the car and turned toward her. He ordered June to lift her dress and pull down her girdle so he could see her naked. Afraid he intended to rape her, she hesitated, but then did as he asked. June had no idea what he might do if she resisted.
To her surprise and disgust, he leaned over her and began to lick her genitals with his tongue. He continued, obviously trying to arouse her. She endured it as best she could, hoping he was just some sexual deviant who would soon be done. She could hardly believe this was happening.
His assault on her aroused him and he unzipped his pants and showed her his throbbing erection. “Now you do me,” he ordered.
“No,” June said, putting her hand to her mouth, “I don’t want to.”
He brandished the gun and pointed it at her. “Do it!”
Grimacing, she leaned toward him. He stank of stale sweat and semen, and the idea of putting her mouth on him made her gag. She managed to get the top of his penis partly into her mouth, but could do nothing more. She choked and pulled away, crying.
“I can’t,” she panted, “I just can’t.” She believed that now he’d shoot her. But she couldn’t face her husband after doing such a thing to another man. She couldn’t face herself.
Rees stared at her, waiting. She swallowed. At any moment, she expected him to hit or her shot her. To her surprise, he relented.
“You’re a good woman,” he said. “You can get out of the car.”
Relieved, and not quite believing this, June got out at once. But she didn’t trust him. She braced for an explosion from the pistol. The man got out and she watched him nervously as he opened the trunk, releasing her husband.
“Get out of here,” he said, “both of you.” He’d suddenly changed from a lunatic to being calm, almost remorseful.
They grabbed hands and ran into the woods, afraid he’d come after them or shoot them before they got away. Soon, they heard the car engine start. They stopped to listen as the man drove away in their car.
Relieved, but still afraid he’d come back, they walked through the woods until they found a phone to report the incident to the police. It wasn’t long before their car was located, abandoned along the road near where they’d been stopped. The stranger’s car was gone.
The Tuozzos described the man who’d accosted them, but they couldn’t remember his license plate number or describe his car very clearly. Although their car was thoroughly processed, no usable fingerprints were lifted. He’d gotten away.
Only in light of what happened later in Virginia, and hour south, did this creepy incident develop more sinister overtones. The police also located a complaint from 1957 in which a dark-haired man had stopped another couple on a Maryland road. He’d tried to place the male in the trunk of his car, but the couple had managed to fight him off and escape. Same M.O.
This predator had been active for at least two years.