Amber Alert Issued for Teen Allegedly Kidnapped at Gunpoint

LITITZ, Pa. – A 14-year-old girl was missing after her parents were shot to death in their home Sunday morning, and authorities were searching for her 18-year-old boyfriend, who reportedly abducted her at gunpoint.

Michael and Cathryn Borden, both 50, were found shot to death shortly after 8 a.m., Lititz Police Chief William Seace said.

The couple's 9-year-old son David, the youngest of five children, had fled to the home of neighbors, who called 911, Seace said. An older daughter still living at home and two adult sons were also safe, he said.

But Kara Beth Borden, 14, was missing. Police said she was last seen that morning at the family's home in Warwick Township, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia, and was reportedly abducted at gunpoint.

"We think they're boyfriend and girlfriend," said Lititz Police Chief William Seace. "The young girl was out during the night, came home, and her parents confronted her. From what we understand, he came to the house."

The Borden family had lived in the home for several years, said neighbor Tod Sherman, 47. Mike Borden worked for a printing company, and the children were home-school, he said.

Sherman said the family knew the 18-year-old suspect, identified by police as David G. Ludwig, through a home-schooling network. He said he had occasionally seen the teen at the Bordens' home.

Stephanie Mannon, 16, said Ludwig and Kara Borden had been seeing each other secretly.

"Their parents didn't approve of them being together" because of the age difference, she said. "It wasn't because he was a shady character, because he wasn't."

Neighbor John Hohman, 40, said his family got a phone call fromLancaster County emergency management officials Sunday morning warning them to stay inside. He said he looked out a window and saw police running through the neighborhood. About an hour and half later, authorities told residents to go to their basements.

"We were really upset. We didn't know what going on," Hohman said.

Hohman described Kara, who occasionally baby-sat for his family, as "a very nice girl."

Sherman described her father as "very smart and focused, a nice guy."

"They were super people," he said.

Ludwig, a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, was last seen driving his parents' red Volkswagen Jetta with Pennsylvania license plates EHH-0994. Borden is described as white, 5-feet-1 and 100 pounds, with brown hair with blond highlights. She was last seen wearing a black sweat shirt with "Pillar" across the front, blue jeans and black sneakers.

Seace said authorities do not know which direction Ludwig was heading and the search area was "anywhere in the state of Pennsylvania or along the eastern seaboard."

The murders were the second violent incident in a week in normally quiet Lititz, a Lancaster County village known for its quaint shops, local artists and such attractions as the Sturgis Pretzel House, which bills itself as America's first pretzel bakery.

On Tuesday, police shot and killed a man hours after authorities said the suspect shot one of three officers who had gone to his home with a traffic warrant.