Missouri couple Blake Fitzgerald and Brittany Harper wanted for abducting store clerk in Georgia

Authorities believe a Missouri couple, wanted in a string of crimes in Alabama, abducted a clerk in Georgia Monday night. Police confirmed to al.com that a female clerk in Perry was abducted during a holdup at a convenience store/gas station. Investigators said the victim was later released and unharmed, which was also the case with the victims in Alabama.

Wanted! Couple on the run accused of abducting Perry store clerk Monday night during crime spree @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/G6ELg5NYzi— Deidra Dukes (@DeidraDukesFOX5) February 2, 2016

The suspects have been identified as Blake Fitzgerald and Brittany Harper, both 30, of Joplin, Missouri. In addition to the Perry abduction, the couple is accused of robbing and abducting a hotel clerk, attempting to rob a McDonald's manager and briefly kidnapping a woman before stealing her SUV. The three Alabama crimes occurred early Sunday moing within a span of two hours and across a distance of roughly 60 miles. 

The Monday night holdup happened shortly after 11:00 p.m. at the Murphy Express in the 1400 block of Sam Nunn Boulevard. According to al.com, the suspects took the clerk about 15 miles south on I-75 and dropped her off at another exit.

Police think they are still driving the stolen SUV which is a 2010 silver Ford Edge with plate number 2720AG7. They were last seen headed south on I-75. 

Georgia police have joined U.S. Marshals and investigators from Alabama in the search for Fitzgerald and Harper. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information that could lead to an arrest. 

"They're considered armed and dangerous," Tuscaloosa police Lt. KipHart said. "We have no idea why they're running or where they're running from or running to."

Tuscaloosa is where the crime spree started early Sunday. A clerk at a Microtel Inn alerted police after arriving at work to find the oveight clerk gone, the safe open and money missing. Security video showed the clerk being robbed about 6 a.m., Hart said, and the couple forcing him to leave with them as they took his car. Fitzgerald and Harper were charged with kidnapping, theft and robbery in connection to the Tuscaloosa case, Hart said. The Jefferson County District Attoey's Office issued arrest warrants for Fitzgerald and Harper on charges of kidnapping and theft in connection to the woman's abduction in the upscale Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills.