California woman abducted at 15 found alive after 10 years - police

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Thompson Reuters

LOS ANGELES, May 21 (Reuters) - A Southern California woman who was abducted a decade ago at the age of 15 has been found alive and her accused kidnapper arrested, police said on Wednesday.

The woman, who is now 25 years old, was reported missing by her mother in August 2004, the Santa Ana Police Department said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.trust.org/item/20140521212747-h35yb

---

Missing woman found after 10 years.

A California woman who had been reporting missing for 10 years was found alive after she contacted police and her alleged captor was arrested.

The victim was reported missing to the Santa Ana Police Department by her mother, when aged 15. She is now 25.

Isidro Garcia, 41, has been arrested on multiple charges including kidnapping for rape and false imprisonment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27508752

[GeorgeGist]

1. Isidro Garcia

[Archae]

3. A face that deserves a baseball bat in the head and then a kick in the balls.

[Helen Borg]

4. Looks like his head

was already bashed by a baseball bat!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Thug rule? Or a nation of laws? Cruel & unusual punishment? Mob vigilanteism?

I thought we had settled those things, but apparently you don't think so.

Also, it seems you would convict people based on their appearance. That is bigotry.

[AgingAmerican]

18. It is OK to feel that way

That is why we have a justice system. Because revenge is not justice. People feel strongly about such things. Personally, if he did that to my daughter, I would want to bash his head in too. In the end, justice will prevail.

Michael Dukakis should have said that when he was asked the 'If you wife was raped and killed, would you want the death penalty' question. He should have answered, "Of course I would want revenge, but revenge isn't justice".

[ms liberty]

27. An excellent response. Thanks! n/t

[fujiyama]

34. You got it absolutely right!

It's nice to see a response that reflects the reality of what we as humans feel about such abhorrent acts (kidnapping, rape, murder, etc) - and about how we control our impulses as a society through the rule of law.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

43. Sure, but 1) It's bigotry about his face, 2) It's not the poster's family.

The poster was not asked about his family. He is not related to victim or assailant.

The poster advocated violence based on the way the guy's face looks (plus of course the accusation, which is only an accusation at this point).

Advocating violence against people because of their appearance is bigotry and prejudice.

You make my point that we have a justice system to combat bigotry and mob revenge.

[VanillaRhapsody]

52. so we should have just been kinder when we spoke about Jeffery Dahmer?

OH! and John Wayne Gacy too!


What this guy did is despicable.....and people are THINKING of what he deserves for his actions...No one is calling for justice to be subverted.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

53. Whatever. Progressives don't judge people on appearance. Be bigoted about appearance if you like. nt

[VanillaRhapsody]

54. He is not being judged by his appearance.....that is secondary to the fact that he kidnapped

and raped a child....causing mental anguish this woman will deal with for the rest of her life! Trust me on this...I KNOW! She will likely need years of therapy....

If it were your child.....I am sure YOU would also imagine what you would do to that person if you personally caught them.

No one is calling for vigilante justice....they are doing something very human....they are trashing someone who apparently did something so heinous not to mention inhumane that there is no real justice for....even the death penalty is too good for him..... He certainly didn't have any empathy for his victim. He kept a child as his sexual slave for 10 yrs!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

55. The post reads "a face that deserves" a violent beating. nt

[VanillaRhapsody]

57. and he does.....

this man is ugly to the bone....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

61. You have just admitted you advocate violence against ugly people because they are ugly.

That's prejudging, ... prejudice.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

56. Second, it is not his child or anybody related to him. nt

[VanillaRhapsody]

58. No one ever said it was HIS child.....

certainly not I....

And I do not care if it WAS his child or not....he still doesn't deserve our "respect"....he will get a trial. Just like Dahmer and Gacy did...but we don't have to be nice to people (on the Internet) who are so sick and evil.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

62. You & other guy keep raising "what if she was your child". She isn't the child of anybody

You & other guy keep raising "what if she was your child". She isn't the child of anybody in this thread.

But that fact doesn't get in the way of people calling for vigilante violence.

[Tom Ripley]

82. +1000

[MADem]

51. I think that guy deserves a trial by jury, and he has a face his mother would have a tough time

loving. No wonder he had to kidnap his bride. Allegedly, of course...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

63. +1

[840high]

31. I'll help you.

[Ms. Toad]

2. Shades of Ariel Castro in Cleveland.

Except he kidnapped 3, and had a child by one before they escaped/were rescued an average of a decade after they were kidnapped.

[Raine1967]

21. I just got done reading all the responses this far in this thread.

Last edited Wed May 21, 2014, 08:25 PM - Edit history (1)

and I have to say that your response waw the very same I had upon reading this story. It horrific, it's terrible and I truly hope this woman can find some normality (whatever that may be) in her life. To be taken away and abused in such a manner is just heartbreaking.

(Edited thanks to tblue37 pointing out my stupid auto correct error! )

[tblue37]

26. You must also have a hyperactive (predictive) autocorrect on your computer.

Sometimes I am astonished to read the bizarre things my computer has changed my typed words into--and sometimes I don't catch it before hitting "post" (or hitting "send" on an email message).

I am quite certain that you did not type "abused in sushi a manner"!

[Raine1967]

28. OMG. You're correct.

damn stupid dumb auto correct! Thank you. I'll go fix it.

[TBF]

5. Thank you Ronald Reagan -

this is what we get when we cut mental health funding. We need to make services widely available and affordable so folks can get the help they so obviously need.

[gcomeau]

6. Not everything can be blamed on mental illness.

Some people are just evil bastards. I see no indication in the article that mental health issues played a roll here.

[TBF]

9. lol - the defense of RR on here is very telling. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. That is not a defence of Ronald Reagan, and you are hijacking this thread

This is not about mental health. This man seems to have continually and cleverly acted in his own disgusting interests.

[TBF]

35. I am not AT ALL surprised by the folks

who are unwilling to consider that mental illness might be an issue & that reactionary policies may have repercussions.

Very, very telling indeed.

And as for "hijacking" - it is not hijacking to consider that it is possible that a man that does this sort of thing is mentally ill. I would hazard a guess that it is more likely he is mentally ill than not. But oh no so many have to jump on the "he's an evil individual - kill him" train of thought that is so rampant amongst conservatives in this country. And apparently in other countries as well.

I feel like I am at a meeting of the young conservatives club.

[muriel_volestrangler]

49. It's your repeated accusations of DUers being conservative that are out of bounds

No-one here has defended Reagan. What several of us have done is point out that you have no basis whatsoever for your claim that this man is mentally ill. You just don't like his morals. You have made the leap to blaming that on some mental illness in him, and then hit out any anyone who disagrees, unjustly accusing them of be conservatives.

[TBF]

67. In post #50 I spell the republican meme

as follows:

Star Member TBF (24,260 posts)
65. This demand to blame everything on the individual

is a republican meme.

If you don't work hard enough you are bad and deserve to be poor.
If you aren't smart enough you are bad and deserve to be poor.
If you are ill and do horrible things you are bad and deserve to be poor (and/or die).
If you are ill and want health care too bad, you probably didn't work hard enough (because you're not smart enough).

This is the way they push everything on to the individual and decide that we don't need to fund services because it isn't society's fault - it's the individual.

Only republicans spout that crap. And third-way dems apparently.

It's wrong.

Peace out.

[muriel_volestrangler]

73. And it's still offensive, even if you're saying it again and again

This is not about:
working hard
being smart
illness
healthcare

This is about someone who carefully abducted a girl, threatened her, made her believe she had no way out, and raped her repeatedly. The available evidence is that this man was pretty smart and hard-working - at keeping the girl/woman under his control. it is not 'Republican' to see him as an autonomous person who made decisions. Your repeated attempts to politicise this by calling DUers names are misplaced.

[TBF]

74. I'm sorry but we disagree.

And not for the first time. But my opinion stands as I'm sure yours does.

[muriel_volestrangler]

75. The difference is that you're insulting us

while we're not insulting you. Just don't do it.

[TBF]

77. No -

I had an opinion and you along with others attacked with a right-wing response. You should expect to be questioned about that on a progressive website.

Your characterization of events and general bossiness is laughable.

Go push someone else around.

[Rex]

78. FYI

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

Mail Message
On Thu May 22, 2014, 01:23 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

No -
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=809671

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

TBF is repeatedly calling DUers right wing for no accepting their "he's just mentally ill" idea, throughout this thread. This is untrue, insulting and disruptive. Notice that no-one ever defended Ronald Reagan, but from reply #9 onwards, they have attacked DUers as 'conservative', 'right wing', 'Republican' or 'reactionary'.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu May 22, 2014, 01:30 PM, and the Jury voted 1-6 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: "Your characterization of events and general bossiness is laughable."
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Oh please!
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: If the shoe fits.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: agreed, debate could have easily been had without accusations of supporting reagan, right-wing, etc.

the entire subthread should be deleted.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[muriel_volestrangler]

79. No - disagreeing with you is not 'right wing'

No-one has been right wing in this thread. You are just unable to accept anyone who doesn't support you. Keep your ego out of it. Stop insulting DUers.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

69. +1, Muriel.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. It's not about RR, it's about facts and the truth.

Give us a credible reference that shows how the perpetrator is mentally ill or is more than 50% likely to be mentally ill.

If you can.

You can't. You don't have the fact.

So which is, wild allegation Republican style, or dependence on the facts, Progressive style?

[TBF]

36. A progressive recognizes that mental illness exists -

as opposed to the reactionary "bad, bad man" that a republican yells out.

A progressive recognizes that policies have repercussions while a conservative will cut mental illness funding without a second glance.

Show me that this man is not mentally ill. I would say his actions are much more indicative of mental illness than not.

But this thread has been very interesting indeed. All manner of "evil, evil man" - "evil INDIVIDUAL" - as opposed to thinking about the various reasons someone could act out in this manner.

Very, very interesting indeed.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

42. Your assertion he is ill, thus the ball is in your court. Progressives don't just make stuff up.

It's not very progressive to say "prove that he isn't mentally ill". That is just as unfounded as saying prove that Elizabeth Warren "isn't mentally ill" or George Clooney or Dick Cheney.

You made an unsupported assertion. Prove it. Provide credible references to his health history or analysis by credible psychological professionals. Ball is in your court. As a progressive you don't get to just make stuff up.

But I bet you won't ever admit you just made it up that this man has mental illness untreated because of Ronald Reagan and then you published the assertion to be recorded on DU.

Of course mental illness exists. So does cancer and football. Duh.

Of course policies have repercussions. But you have not shown any link. You think you can just spout off some wild speculations and not get called on it. Dream on.

[TBF]

45. As I have said in several posts

you and others are intent on finding the "lone individual" evil and guilty rather than consider societal forces/policies that affect them. That is very conservative and even reactionary.

And even more surprisingly showing that horrible conservative policies can result in real world problems is a problem for you? I could understand your reaction if I said "Barack Obama's policies of cutting xyz led to ..." but I did not say that. I correctly brought up the policies that have resulted in mentally ill not being treated properly - Ronald Reagan's policies.

Again you and others refuse to understand policy can have impacts - individuals are affected by those policies. Instead you jump right to the republican "but he was evil and needs to die" model. Very telling.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

50. Nope. I merely await the facts. You are the one jumping to conclusions.

You can find nothing in my posts where I say he is "evil" or "guilty" or make any assertion about him at all.

You have nothing when all you do is try to put words in my mouth.

Think and read and think again.

[TBF]

65. This demand to blame everything on the individual

is a republican meme.

If you don't work hard enough you are bad and deserve to be poor.
If you aren't smart enough you are bad and deserve to be poor.
If you are ill and do horrible things you are bad and deserve to be poor (and/or die).
If you are ill and want health care too bad, you probably didn't work hard enough (because you're not smart enough).

This is the way they push everything on to the individual and decide that we don't need to fund services because it isn't society's fault - it's the individual.

Only republicans spout that crap. And third-way dems apparently.

It's wrong.

Peace out.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

66. Your demand to never blame the individual is a Republican parody of progressives. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

68. Read: I never assigned blame. You can't show a sentence of mine assigning blame for this crime. nt

[Sheldon Cooper]

47. LOL.

You might want to consider switching to decaf.

[gcomeau]

15. Who the hell was defending RR?

I think the guy was an unmitigated disaster, but that doesn't have anything to do with this thread.

[840high]

32. BS. There are evil people.

[TBF]

33. I get that but I think there is a point

to be made that sometimes our public policy decisions have repercussions. But it is interesting to note all the "it's just a bad, bad man and nothing can be done responses". Very reactionary and quite telling.

[fujiyama]

37. Yes, of course political decisions have long term repercussions for people

but that's fairly obvious (unless you're an oblivious Tea Bagger).

However, that still doesn't rule out the reality that some people are just too far gone and just plain evil. Mental health funding may or may not have helped in this case. That certainly doesn't justify what Reagan did in terms of cutting mental health funding.

Look, even a country like Norway, with some of the most accessible mental health services in the world, couldn't prevent a lunatic from killing over 60 people (most of whom were children).

I honestly don't know what Reagan has to do with this story. I think there are much better and plenty of obvious examples of awful incidents that have occured, which better mental health access would have prevented.

[TBF]

44. I'm sorry you didn't like my

comment. There are obviously many examples and I know exactly what you're speaking of in Norway - that was an example in which leftist (communist) youth were attacked. I worked in mental health for awhile in the 90s near Washington DC and the direct results of Reagan's cuts were obvious. I guess it really stuck with me because of that personal experience.

I still fail to see why criticizing Reagan's policies is taboo on this site, but live and learn I guess.

[Veruca Salt]

46. "criticizing Reagan's policies is taboo"

Far from it! I would be right next to you criticising the hell out of that bastards policies, particularly when it involves all the mental health institutions that were closed and the people, who needed them, who were thrown out to the streets.

In this case though, until shown otherwise, all I see is an evil man who kidnapped then raped and enslaved a teenager for 10 years.

[TBF]

48. I admit I'm not going to lose any sleep

over this guy. I have had to respond to all these comments and I was really surprised by them. I guess my mind made a jump that wasn't clearly a logical jump simply because I had the experience of working in a mental health field and seeing so many lose the services they needed.

I was speaking to societal level, but on an individual level I do think he's mentally ill - someone of sound mind would not perform what he is accused of. But whether he would be rehabilitated is another matter. Obviously I wouldn't want him living on my street or anywhere near my own kids. I do understand the visceral reaction many have and I share that.

[Tansy_Gold]

59. If it helps at all. . . .

I'm with you totally.

And no one will be surprised.

[TBF]

70. Thanks -

the bright spot is that I've just added more third-way dems to my ignore list.

I hope to god Elizabeth Warren runs in 2016 - I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

[TBF]

71. Also totally off topic,

but I just wanted to comment that I love your user name.

My daughter is in Willy Wonka this summer.

[fujiyama]

80. Actually I'd be really interested in hearing more about your experiences

during the time of the cuts. And I have heard the cuts resulted in many on the streets.

I just didn't see a direct or relevant link between a lunatic that kidnapped a woman for some ten years and a dead president that's been out of office for twenty five years. Criticizing Reagan is great, and his abhorrent policies should be brought to light. However, unless there is evidence that this guy at some point sought mental health treatment and was turned away or was the victim of such cuts, I'm not seeing a link.

That certainly doesn't negate the evil of Reagan's policies.

[JI7]

8. i don't think this has anything to do with medical mental health issues,some people are just shits

[Shrike47]

7. Amazing ears, absolutely amazing.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Startling!At first I wondered if they weren't upside down.His head is tilted back too far.

It probably might make them look much farther down than they really are. I would hope!

[tblue37]

29. Many medical and developmental conditions are associated with such ear malformation. nt

[Brickbat]

10. The details are heartbreaking.

Police said in a statement he had been living with the girl's family at the time of her disappearance.

The abuse began in 2004, the statement said, when Mr Garcia was dating the victim's mother and living with the family in Santa Ana, a city in Orange County.

The police allege that Mr Garcia began sexually assaulting the victim in June of that year. Two months later he assaulted the victim's mother and drugged the then-14-year-old, locking her in a garage.

The two moved on several occasions to avoid police detection, the police statement says."

He forced her into a marriage and got her pregnant. I'm curious about how easy it was for them to escape detection. (I'm implying disinterest from the authorities.)

[Blue_Tires]

72. Well, after enough abuse she had been mentally and emotionally

conditioned to "play" her role as wife and later mother, so she was essentially hidden in plain sight...The fact that they hosted parties and their neighbors all saw them as an everyday hardworking, loving couple is pretty scary...

The big difference between this and Castro is Castro shielded his victims from ALL public contact...

[Judi Lynn]

16. So many changes in anyone's life between 15 and 25. Unbelievable!

Hope the very best for this young lady: may she find a way into the world again, to resume her real life. Best wishes to her and her family, also traumatized. Undoubtedly they lived in fear so long that she had been murdered.

[HipChick]

17. Those ears will serve him well in prison

he'll be able to hear his prison justice coming..

[Comrade Grumpy]

19. Justice would be being sentenced to prison, not being brutalized there.

[kath]

22. When you say " prison justice", what are you referring to?

[Earth_First]

24. Prison Justice?

Let's not ignore that this happens...however, making casual comments/banter on the vanity of this individual to equate that he'll "hear his justice coming..." is very troubling.

[Ms. Toad]

25. Please self-delete.

Or clarify, on the unlikely chance you are suggesting something other than prison rape. Suggesting rape as a punishment is not cool.

[kath]

81. yes, she needs to clarify. Jokes or comments about prison rape should absolutely be banned here.

[nomorenomore08]

84. Rape/torture is not part of a prison sentence.

And if it were, I'm pretty sure that would violate the 8th Amendment.

Otherwise, though, I couldn't really care less what happens to this particular piece of shit.

[AgingAmerican]

20. These stories make me ill

To ruin a young womans life like that. To take her adolescence and post adolescence from her. That is the golden period in our lives. When we say, "Back in the day" that is generally the period of which we speak.

I'm glad her family has her back, I assume they gave her up for dead after that long.

[AngryAmish]

23. She was kidnapped when Bush was President.

When is he going to answer for his crimes, including this?

[gopiscrap]

30. wow excellent

[mackerel]

38. Sociopaths do not see themselves as

Last edited Thu May 22, 2014, 02:36 AM - Edit history (1)

mentally ill and there is no workable treatment for a sociopath. Sociopaths are born that way.

[fujiyama]

39. Usually these sorts of stories end much worse

It's incredible she survived this. I hope he never sees the light of day again.

[Liberty Belle]

40. She stayed with him because he threatened to have her family deported,

according to PBS. One more reason why we shouldn't have people forced to live in the shadows.

[mackerel]

41. She's going to need to be treated for PTSD. The UK article says she has a three year

old little girl.

[get the red out]

60. This guy needs his freedom taken

I hope he gets many, many, many years in prison.

[Mean Gene]

64. What about the parents?

Are they still alive?

[Rhymes With Orange]

76. It's hard to wrap my head around

why she didn't escape earlier. But I have no idea how it feels to be in that situation.

[Le Taz Hot]

83. He told her that her family

didn't want her and that, if she reported him/escaped, he would call ICE and have her family deported (they were/are undocumented workers). Remember, she was 15 when she was taken, I'm assuming didn't speak English well and had little/no skills, so, in her mind, there were no other options.