A kidnapped 12-year-old gir managed to chew through her restraints and escape from the house where she was being kept in Alabama. The victim has since been labeled a “hero,” and she was even able to lead police to her captor, 37-year-old Paulino Pascual-Reyes, who’s now in custody where he belongs.
- The girl had been held captive for a week. Court documents say the child was tied to a bedpost for seven days and had been drugged with alcohol throughout that time. After chewing through her restraints to free herself, she managed to get out of the house, where she was spotted by a motorist who called police.
- When police arrived at Pascual-Reyes’ home, they got a nasty shock. While he was arrested for kidnapping in the first degree as they expected, Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett revealed that there was an extra nasty surprise at the home when they arrived: two dead and decomposing bodies. “During the initial investigation from the information that we received and collected we were able to arrest a Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes of this same address of County Road 34 for kidnapping in the first degree. And he was arrested in Auburn and Somerville circle by the Marshall Service and the Auburn Police Department,” Abbett said. “During this overnight investigation processing the residence we have located two decomposed bodies that were found and currently at the department forensic sciences pending the identification.”
- There are still a lot of unknowns in this case. Abbett said that while the victim is certainly a “hero,” they haven’t pressed her for too many details so far as she has only just escaped a harrowing situation. “I would say she’s a hero and it’s one of those things that we want to get into until later,” he said. “We gave her medical attention and she has been she’s safe now and so we want to keep her that.”
- It’s unclear what the relationship between the victim and kidnapper was, if any. However, police noted that she was “not considered a missing person.” The extent of the relationship between them has not been made public, with Abbott saying: “We are not at the stage to release the relationship. We do not want to infringe on what is going on behind the scenes.”
- The charges against Pascual-Reyes are about to get a whole lot more serious. As if kidnapping wasn’t bad enough, District Attorney Jeremy Duerr says they’re preparing to file additional charges. “At this time we’re looking at multiple counts of capital murder, along with kidnapping in the first degree and of course once we continue and finish our investigation,” he revealed. “I feel certain that several more charges will follow.”
