Kidnapped California Girl Found After 10 Years

A kidnapped California girl, whose name was not released, finally came forward 10 years after she was taken by 40-year-old Isidro Garcia. Garcia began sexually assaulting the victim as early as June of 2004, when he was dating the victim’s mother. Garcia allegedly drugged the victim, assaulted her mother, and drove her and locked her in a garage in Compton.

Over the course of 10 years, the victim and Garcia got married and had a child together. “Even with the opportunity to escape, after years of physical and mental abuse, the victim saw no way out of her situation and lived a life with Garcia under sustained physical and mental abuse,” police said in a statement. “In 2007, Garcia forced the victim into a marriage and in 2012 the two had a child.”

The victim’s mother reported her daughter missing in August 2004, when the victim was only 15. After 10 years, the victim connected with her sister through Facebook and contacted the police soon after. Garcia was arrested on charges of kidnap for rape, lewd acts with a minor, and false imprisonment. He is being held at the Santa Ana jail until his arraignment Thursday.

Police said Garcia “frequently physically and sexually assaulted the victim'” and even arranged employment for the two of them at a cleaning service so Garcia could keep an eye on the victim. Garcia also obtained false identification for the victim and moved multiple times to evade police suspicion and detection. The most recent was a Bell Gardens apartment, where neighbors saw the victim and Isidro “happily” playing with their child.

The New York Times reports police told the KNX-AM radio station in Los Angeles that the victim had tried to escape twice, but both attempts had failed. “Over the course of the following months and years, Garcia repeatedly told the victim, who was new to the country, her family had given up looking for her, and if she tried to go back to them, the family would be deported,” police said.

Garcia will most likely receive a harsh punishment for his crime, especially after Ariel Castro’s similar crime just last year. Castro kidnapped and raped three woman, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, and received a life sentence plus 1000 years. Garcia will face similar consequences for his similar actions.

[Image via Santa Ana Police Department]