The Alleghany County Sheriff's Office has called off its search for a man who is reported to have abducted a woman at gunpoint and sexually assaulted her.

The woman told investigators that she was abducted on Alleghany Avenue in Covington before 8 p.m. Wednesday, Lt. Col. Matt Bowser said.

The man forced her to drive to a remote part of McKinney Hollow Road, where she was sexually assaulted, Bowser said.

The man fled on foot. Authorities spent hours searching for him near Evans Lane, southeast of Iron Gate, using a Virginia State Police helicopter, infrared cameras and dogs.

He is described as a black man in his mid- to late 20s and about 6 feet tall. Police said he has short hair and a tribal tattoo on his left arm. He reportedly was wearing a blue muscle shirt, black shorts, black tennis shoes, white socks and black leather gloves, and had a dark handgun.

The woman was taken to Alleghany Regional Hospital and was treated and released, Bowser said.

This incident does not appear to be related to three other reported abductions in the county in the past year because the suspects' descriptions do not match, authorities said.

On June 21, a woman reported that two white men abducted her near Walton Church Lane just outside Clifton Forge and assaulted her, Bowser said. The sheriff's office is still investigating.

In October, a woman reported to Clifton Forge police that a man got in her pickup truck and told her to drive. She said she stopped at intersection and got out of the truck, which the man took.

And in September, a woman reported that a man got into her car and forced her to drive to a wooded area where he assaulted her and took money.

Police have not identified suspects in last year's incidents, Lt. Ronnie Paxton said.

Anyone with information about Wednesday's abduction is asked to call the sheriff's office at 965-1770.