From staff reports

An 18-year-old woman who was brutally assaulted and left for dead along a rural road in Limestone County last week is home from the hospital.

A friend of the family told the Tribune-Herald on Wednesday night that the woman returned home Tuesday. Her return comes after she underwent several medical procedures at Scott & White Hospital in Temple.

The Limestone County Sheriff’s Office says the teenager was kidnapped, raped and, according to newly released complaint affidavits, cut with a piece of broken glass or “other unknown object” while being driven around the county during the pre-dawn hours of June 28.

Sheriff Dennis Wilson was unavailable Wednesday to comment on new developments in the investigation.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the assault — 17-year-old Javier Guzman Martinez and 22-year-old Noel Darwin Hernandez, both of Mexia. Each is charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated sexual assault.

Bond for each charge has been set at $1 million for each man.

Complaint affidavits dated June 29 and released late Wednesday afternoon by Limestone County District Attorney Roy DeFriend indicate law enforcement officials sought out Martinez after he allegedly told a co-worker in Mexia he was involved in the incident. Sheriff Wilson has said investigators were contacted by a woman who had spoken with Martinez about the incident.

Also, Martinez’s physical description matched that given by the victim of one assailant being 5 feet 6, wearing baggy jeans, a large belt buckle and having “broken or missing upper front teeth,” the affidavit said.

The sheriff said Martinez, under questioning, said he was involved in the assault and that Hernandez also was involved. The vehicle found at Hernandez’s residence matched the victim’s description of the car used in her abduction and sexual assault, the affidavit said.

The affidavit also states Martinez told investigators that Hernandez was bound for Waco “to board a bus and leave the state of Texas.” Hernandez was subsequently arrested at the Greyhound bus terminal at 301 S. Eighth St.

The assault victim, who lives in Tehuacana, said she was driving home in the early morning hours of June 28 when her vehicle was rammed and forced off the road by a car. The two men in the car then dragged her into their vehicle where she was sexually assaulted, beaten and cut before being dumped along a road just south of Coolidge.

Pretending to be dead till her attackers left, the victim then walked and crawled a half-mile to the nearest home for help.

The homeowners, who happened to be volunteer firefighters, called authorities, who began investigating immediately, Wilson said. They were quickly able to identify three crime scenes — the ditch where the woman had been left; the site on Highway 171 where her vehicle was abandoned; and another location where some of the victim’s clothing was found.

To help process those scenes, officials requested help from Department of Public Safety crime labs in Waco and Austin, Wilson said. Officers then hit the streets to try finding the two men, based on a description the woman gave while at the hospital.