Having endured nearly a decade of captivity, a 25-year-old woman was found after she contacted her sister on Facebook and came forward with her story.
Isidro Garcia, 42, was arrested Tuesday and is suspected of kidnapping for rape, lewd acts with a minor, and false imprisonment.
The woman, who was not identified, came to Santa Ana from Mexico in the spring of 2004 to reunite with her mother, who was in a relationship with Garcia at the time. He physically abused the mother and began to rape the daughter, police say woman told police.
In August 2004, Garcia allegedly fought with the mother, and when the daughter tried to escape, he caught her and kidnapped her. They then spent several years moving around several California towns to avoid getting caught.
While an investigation was launched by police in 2004, it eventually went cold.
According to authorities, during the nearly 10 years of captivity, Garcia used violence against the girl, beat her when she tried to escaped, raped her, made her work for him, and later forced her to marry him. He told her that she would be deported if she left him. She had Garcia’s child two years ago, police said.
Eventually, the woman contacted her sister through Facebook and gained the courage to call police.
Just last year, three women who had been missing for more than 10 years, were freed in Cleveland after Ariel Castro abducted them.
H/T LA Times | Photo via Santa Ana Police Department/Facebook