Deputies are searching for the boyfriend they say beat and abandoned a Natchez woman this weekend, leaving her &uot;for dead&uot; along a Vicksburg highway.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Department has issued an arrest warrant for Edward D. Wells, 28, formerly of the Miss-Lou. The warrant charges Wells with aggravated assault in the weekend beating of Patty Rabb, 29, also formerly of Natchez.

Men working Saturday morning along U.S. 61 spotted Rabb lying at the bottom of an embankment north of Vicksburg.

&uot;She was beaten and thrown from a dirt embankment … fell some 25 feet and basically left for dead,&uot; said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. &uot;Thankfully those workers found her when they they did.&uot;

If she had not been found that morning, &uot;we feel she probably would not have survived the day,&uot; Pace said.

Pace would not comment on the specifics of the case but said officers are trying to find Wells.

&uot;We’re working every angle to try to get him located,&uot; Pace said.

Rabb’s mother, Deborah Pilgrim of Adams County, said her daughter remained in critical condition Wednesday at Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

Pilgrim said she still finds the incident hard to believe.

&uot;I didn’t realize it could ever happen to one of my family,&uot; she said.

Pilgrim said her daughter moved to Vicksburg recently to take a job as a waitress.

Wells had taken a construction job in Vicksburg and had a temporary address, Pace said.

Anyone with information about Wells’ whereabouts is asked to call the Warren County Sheriff’s Department at (601) 636-1761 or call their local law enforcement agency.