Family of victim of abduction in Ogden tells her story

OGDEN, N.Y. (WHEC) — Relatives of the woman abducted in Ogden are rallying around her after she escaped her ordeal safely and her ex, who police say abducted her, killed himself.

"It’s been a long day,” sighed Deborah Deegan of Irondequoit, who says she, her brother and three sisters are pulling together around their sister, Jessica Northrup, and her kids.

"I am thankful, that my sister and my nieces and nephews are safe,” she said. “I don’t think that’s always the end of this story. So I think we’re lucky. And I’m thankful.”

Police in Ogden said Northrup was abducted in the Woodgate Place Apartments in Spencerport by her ex-boyfriend Paul Collen. The two of them had been involved on and off for years and they had four children together, between the ages of three and fourteen. Deegan said her sister had decided to end what she calls an abusive relationship and had even gotten orders of protection from him when he took her captive Tuesday night.

"She’s a nurse so she might know a little of de-escalation tactics and she was able to convince him to let her go,” she explained. “And she was able to flee.”

According to police, they later found Collen dead near the scene, and it seems he shot himself.

Deborah Deegan says Collen had seemed distant and troubled for a long time.

“She had taken him to ER and tried to get him mental health evaluation, and help,” she recalled. “So, I just wish that maybe the ball hadn’t been dropped over and over again and things could’ve played out differently.”

Deegan said the family is trying to help the four children get through the death of their father as well as the ordeal inflicted on their mother, and dealing with this trauma one day at a time.

“We’re just trying to make sure she has support,” she said. “She does have some support. I want to thank Willow [Domestic Violence Center] for being there for her. We just want to make sure she has all the support that she can get.”

Deegan said it’s important to note that her sister did take steps to get out of a relationship she says was an abusive one and to encourage others in a similar situation to do the same.

If you or a loved one are the victim of domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) provides help in more than 170 languages. Click here for more resources.