THOMASVILLE — A kidnapped ex-wife and a man hospitalized after a beating with a bat.

Midmorning Monday, about four hours after a Baytree Estates incident, those two situations were about all Thomasville police had learned about the 6:30 a.m. events.

Shortly before sunrise, Elberto Cruz entered the home of his ex-wife in the subdivision off U.S. 319 South.

“He attacked a male who was at the residence with a ball bat and left with his ex-wife,” said Lt. Mark Scott, Thomasville Police Department public information officer.

The woman is Jennifer Cruz, 19. The couple has children, but they were not at the house at the time of the beating/kidnapping.

The victim, a visitor at the Baytree house, was in serious condition at Archbold Memorial Hospital Monday. He sustained injuries to the head and face, but had been conscious and alert, Scott said.

“She is presumed to be in danger,” the officer said about the woman.

The 34-year-old suspect is 5-foot-3 and weighs about 140 pounds. His last known address was Calvary in southern Grady County.

On Monday morning, police did not know a direction of travel, but the couple might be traveling in a white work-type pickup, possibly with a ladder rack.

Cruz is employed by a Florida construction company that has vehicles fitting that description.

Police need assistance. Scott said anyone knowing the woman’s whereabouts — or with any information about the case — should call dispatch at 226-2101 or the police criminal investigations division at 227-3302.

Police have responded to past incidents at the Baytree residence.

“There have been several calls to that address,” Scott explained. “Some involved family violence.”