Jun. 23—A guilty plea has garnered a 23-year-old man a 10-year federal prison sentence after an attempted armed kidnapping at Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Evan William Blankenship pled guilty to possession and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence while other charges against him were dismissed as part of a plea arrangement. Those dismissed charges included attempted kidnapping, two counts of assault with intent to commit a felony and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm.

Blankenship was accused of using Snapchat to track the location of his victim — a woman he had been trying to date. The woman was referred to by her initials L.P. throughout court documents.

L.P. was with a male companion, L.M., around 3:15 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2023, at Waterrock Knob, a popular overlook between Maggie Valley and Waynesville. The two were sitting in a vehicle when a white Camaro sped into the parking lot, abruptly stopping by the car.

No one else was at Waterrock Knob in the early morning hours as Blankenship slung the passenger door of the vehicle occupied by L.P. and L.M. open — pointing a 9mm Glock Model 19 Gen 5 pistol at the couple.

“L.P. was scared that Blankenship would kill her,” court documents state.

Blankenship then tried to remove L.P. from the vehicle, pulling on her arm and hair and repeatedly saying “she is coming with me.”

“He threatened to hurt both L.P. and L.M. if she did not comply,” the complaint reads. “She asked if he was taking her so that he could rape her. Blankenship nodded his head ‘yes.'”

Blankenship then struck L.P. in the face, causing temporary hearing loss and facial bruising. He then fired the handgun into the ground before turning the gun back towards the two in the car.

The 23-year-old told investigators that he “believed that the shell casing failed to extract from the chamber but continued to point the gun at L.M. and L.P.”

Eventually, L.M. was able to convince Blankenship to leave after promising not to report the incident to police. The couple then headed down the mountain, followed closely by Blankenship. The couple found a law enforcement officer, and Blankenship sped around them and took off.

All three individuals involved in the incident were from Jackson County.

L.P. said that she had previously hung out with Blankenship on one occasion, when they drove around for a few hours. Blankenship had added L.P. on Snapchat a year prior. Other than the single occasion spent together, their entire acquaintance had been through the social media app, she said.

Blankenship initially told investigators he was at work at the time of the incident. That story later changed to say he was drinking in excess leading up to the incident. Blankenship said when he woke up the next morning, he noticed that his car was out of gas, so he knew he had gone somewhere but didn’t remember where.

During the initial investigation, Blankenship told investigators that the 9mm Glock 19 was in his Camaro. With Blankenship’s permission, the firearm was collected from the vehicle as evidence.

Blankenship went on to claim that he and L.P. were “friends with benefits” and had “been exchanging nude photos.”

He said he had texted L.P. around 10 p.m. the night of the incident and asked to hang out.

“She told him she was tired and wanted to be at home,” the complaint said. “Blankenship claimed he was disappointed and began drinking heavily.”

Things took a turn when he checked to see the victim’s location on Snapchat.

“While drinking, he noticed L.P.’s Snapchat location showed her on the Blue Ridge Parkway,” the complaint said. “This upset him, so he decided to go ‘scare her.'”

Blankenship would go on to confirm much of the information that L.P. and L.M. had reported to investigators, according to documents.

“Blankenship admitted driving a white Camaro to the area where she was located and got out with his 9mm Glock in hand,” the complaint said. “He opened the passenger door and demanded that L.P. get in his car. He grabbed her by the hair and continued ordering her into his car. Blankenship said he slapped her when she reached for her phone.”

He then admitted he was angry and fired the gun.

“Eventually, L.M. was able to convince him this was wrong, and Blankenship let them leave,” the complaint said. “He followed them down the Parkway, then texted L.P. not to mention the incident to anyone. He then changed the settings in Snapchat to immediately delete their messages.”

Blankenship was arrested on Oct. 11, 2023, in Waynesville by a National Parks Service special agent and has been in federal custody since.

Blankenship’s 10-year federal prison sentence is to be followed by three years of supervised release.