Abducted Woman Dies In Crash, Police Say

An Alexandria woman who apparently had been abducted from a shopping mall and forced into her own car by robbers was killed yesterday in Prince William County when the car crashed as the robbers fled from pursuers, authorities said.

The woman was identified as Barbara Jean Bosworth, 61, of White Post Court.

She was killed about 3 p.m. near Route 1 in the Woodbridge area when the speeding car went out of control and crashed into trees, according to Prince William County police.

Police said two men who were in the car with Bosworth were critically injured and flown to a hospital. Neither man was identified.

What appeared to be a "fake weapon" was found at the crash scene, police said.

In a statement issued late last night, police gave this account:

The woman apparently visited Springfield Mall, in the Springfield section of Fairfax County, during the afternoon, and detectives believe she was abducted there.

At some point, the woman was able to call her husband and indicated that something was wrong.

The husband, who was not immediately identified, contacted Fairfax County police and reported Bosworth missing under suspicious circumstances.

A man who answered the telephone at the family home last night declined to comment.

In their account of the incident, police said that just after 3 p.m., someone observed a woman accompanied by two young black men at a store in Woodbridge.

The men appeared to be escorting the woman around the store, a PDQ Mart in the 15000 block of Cardinal Drive, police said.