Woman found bound and gagged in vacant Santa Ana house

SANTA ANA — City maintenance workers found a woman bound and gagged in a vacant home in Santa Ana on Tuesday afternoon.

City workers went to the home, which is property of the city, at about 1:30 p.m. at 315 E. Warner Ave., where they found the woman, Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

“They saw there was a padlock on the door, which is not supposed to be there,” Bertagna said. “Then they heard some moaning inside and found a woman in a bedroom bound and gagged.”

It was not immediately clear what happened to the woman, Bertagna said.

“She’s claiming she was kidnapped earlier today,” he said. “She claimed that a man kidnapped her, brought her to this location and tied her up.”

Bertagna said paramedics looked at the woman and took her to the Santa Ana Police Department to be interviewed.