Ludwick acquaintance: 'John was a walking time bomb'

NORTH PORT (FOX 13) - Just before the sun came up on Wednesday morning, screams caught the attention of neighbors on Wesley Lane in North Port. 

A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, saw what police say was an attempted kidnapping. 

The attacker wore a hoodie, a mask and was armed with a knife. 

"Loud, like, 'I'm in trouble,' shrieking screams," the witness said. "The door on the passenger side was open. [A] young lady was standing there. A man was grasping her from behind. There was quite a struggle."

But the attacker likely did not expect his victim to fight back. 

Police said the woman got the knife away and ended up stabbing the man, later identified as John Ludwick. 

Police: Stabbed kidnapper was man who claimed he'd cremated Natalee Holloway’s remains

They said Ludwick and the woman had been friends at one point, but he recently began stalking her. 

His death leaves many unanswered questions behind. 

"To me, it was a mission," said Gabriel Madrigal. 

Police have not identified the victim, but Gabriel Madrigal knows both her and Ludwick. 

"He's obsessed with her. He's in love with her," said Madrigal. 

Madrigal says he and the victim both met Ludwik because of a similar interest; they were interested in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teenager who disappeared in Aruba in 2005. 

Ludwick claimed he helped Holloway's killer, Joran Vander Sloot, dispose of her body by cremating her remains. 

"When she [saw] all this, she wanted to be with John... Let him think that she like him," Madrigal told FOX 13 of Ludwick's victim. "She wanted to help, to be in the spotlight and give me information."

Madrigal provided FOX 13 News with a video he recorded of an interview with the victim. 

In the video, she said, "He told me the bones he supposedly brought to Aruba were animal bones."

Madrigal says the truth about Natalie Holloway's disappearance will come out with the help of information he and Ludwick's victim obtained.

Before his death, Ludwick said he and Joran Vander Sloot were a perfect match. 

"For us, it's fun. For young girls, it's scary to think what would have happened if we continued to live the lifestyle we lived for more than the few months we did. We could have done a lot of damage," said Ludwick on the recording. 

A chilling thought, especially in light of what happened. 

"John was a walking time bomb," said Madrigal.