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Watch: Entire press conference on reportedly abducted couple from Erie

A press briefing has been set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, February 9, about the couple from rural Erie who police say were abducted, and later found.

Police held a press conference regarding the couple from rural Erie who police say were abducted.

(Watch entire press conference below)

The conference started around 9:45 a.m., and Sheriff Kelly Wilhelmi read a prepared statement on the situation.

He said it began Wednesday around 4:45 p.m. when police got a phone call from a bank in Albany about a "possible abduction" of a customer and her husband.

Sheriff Wilhelmi said the investigation led them to a possible suspect in the case, and a suspect vehicle.  When officers tried to pull over the vehicle, they were led on a "high speed chase"  which ended in a crash.

The 40-year-old driver, Chad C. Schipper, from Geneseo was arrested, Sheriff Wilhelmi said. And the couple in question, Larry and Constance Van Oosten, were not in the vehicle, but were found in Geneseo.

The driver was treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

"We have been going at this for about 15,16 hours now and we are still following leads and are working the case," Wilhelmi said. "These are merely allegations and the suspect is presumed innocent."

The investigation is being conducted by the Whiteside County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police, FBI, and other surrounding agencies.

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