George Mandarakas who is accused of trying to kidnap his ex-girlfriend in Michigan was found with a stun gun, rope and maps to sail from New Jersey to Morocco. (Trenton Police Department)
After a woman dumped him for lying about his age, a 36-year-old man began stalking her and hatched an elaborate plan to kidnap her using a stun gun and ropes before possibly setting sail to Cuba or Morocco, a federal complaint says.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan charged George Mandarakas with attempted kidnapping.
According to the complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, Mandarakas and the woman met at the University of Notre Dame in 2019 where he claimed to be a student. The two dated for over four years but the woman ended the relationship on Oct. 1 after she learned he had been lying about his age. She told him she didn’t want him to contact her anymore.
But instead of honoring her wishes, he immediately drove from his home in New Jersey to a hotel in Trenton, Michigan, near where she lived, the complaint said. He sent her several text messages and called her numerous times. She finally agreed to meet him at a park where she reiterated her desire not to date him any longer but Mandarakas allegedly blocked her from going back to her vehicle and then tried to prevent her from shutting the car door.
On Nov. 22, Mandarakas walked up to the woman as she left a salon, which made her wonder how he could have known she was there since they hadn’t spoken in about two months. He again tried to prevent her from closing her car door and tried to hug and kiss her, the complaint said. He then reportedly pulled out a diamond ring and began to propose before she drove away.
That night, the woman and her friends were at a bar when she saw Mandarakas standing in the back. She asked him to leave, which he did, but he allegedly returned wearing different clothes. Mandarakas left after the victim’s friends confronted him but he continued to send her text messages saying “he would not stop until he had her back, and that he was going to marry her,” the complaint said.
According to prosecutors, Mandarakas started sending gifts via mail, including a laptop, old clothing and cards, one of which was postmarked from Trenton. He also began making “odd statements” to a friend about a “podcast” he heard about a guy who “kidnapped his girlfriend, took her to Mexico and it all worked out,” the friend later told FBI agents. The friend told Mandarakas not to do anything along those lines or he’d go to jail, but Mandarakas said “all things were on the table and that he did not care if he went to jail” and if he could not be with the victim, “no one can,” the complaint said.
The friend also told FBI agents that Mandarakas called him to say he was reportedly watching the woman’s house and was looking for ways to track her. On Christmas Eve, the friend contacted the woman to express his concerns that Mandarakas may try to hurt or kidnap her and relayed the story Mandarakas had told him about the podcast, according to the complaint.
A family member of the victim who was a private detective suggested the woman search her vehicle for any tracking devices. A search yielded a white tracking tile inside the driver’s side bumper, the complaint said. The device had been covered by tape to blend in with the vehicle.
The victim’s family on Christmas Day drove her vehicle with the tracking tile to St. Joseph’s Church in Trenton. As they watched from a different car, they saw Mandarakas arrive a few minutes later. He allegedly circled the parking lot in a black Kia. Prosecutors say he parked the car a short distance away and walked inside the church where he remained for about 20 minutes. The victim’s family called the Trenton Police Department. After he walked out, he saw cops who questioned him about why he was there, according to the complaint.
He allegedly said his ex-girlfriend frequented the church and admitted he had no connections to Trenton. Cops arrested him on suspicion of stalking.
Officers searched the car Mandarakas was seen arriving in, which turned out to be a rental. Inside they allegedly found a “large quantity” of U.S. and Canadian cash, multiple cellphones, a tracking device, maps of times and distances to sail from Florida to Cuba and New Jersey to Morocco. There was also a supply list that included water, food, medicine, a satellite phone and changing his name. The list also said not to activate phones until he was “on the run and left the other phone behind.”
Inside the rental vehicle was also a key to Mandarakas’ own vehicle, which he drove to Michigan from New Jersey before renting the black Kia in the area. Inside they found a gun, ammunition, rope, a stun gun and a tarp with the shipping tag addressed to his New Jersey home.
Prosecutors filed the attempted kidnapping charge on Dec. 28 and Mandarakas made a court appearance the next day.
“While the harm the defendant is alleged to have committed cannot be undone, all of the investigative efforts resulting in today’s court appearance is a first step towards justice,” Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan, said in a press release issued by Trenton police.
Mandarakas remains in jail, records show.
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