California Woman Located 10 Years After Being Kidnapped

A 25-year old Southern California woman reported missing in 2004, has been found after contacting police about her alleged kidnapping and captivity of 10 years against her will.

A 41-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping for rape, lewd acts with a minor and false imprisonment after the young victim came forward almost a decade after she was reported missing by her mother.

Santa Ana police arrested Isidro Garcia on suspicion of kidnapping a California woman and holding her captive for 10 years
Courtesy of Santa Ana PD

Isidro Garcia of Bell Gardens was placed in police custody on Tuesday, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.

The unidentified woman was only 15 years old when her mother alerted police that she and her boyfriend had gone missing after a “domestic violence incident” had occurred in their home.

At the time, the boyfriend was living with the young girl’s family and the mother believed Garcia was sexually abusing her daughter, but had no concrete proof of the allegation.

According to a SAPD news release, the victim recently made contact with her sister through Facebook before mustering up the courage to go to police with her story.

The woman told police that the sexual abuse initially started in June 2004 when Garcia came to live with the family at their home in the 800 block of South Fairview Street in Santa Ana. Two months later, after assaulting her mother, Garcia drugged the young girl and took her to a house located in Compton.

She was kept locked in a garage and given fictitious identification papers.

“Over the course of the following months and years, Garcia repeatedly told the victim her family had given up looking for her, and if she tried to go back to them, the family would be deported,” the news release stated.

The victim was frequently subjected to emotional and physical abuse by Garcia on a regular basis and was forced to move repeatedly in order to avoid police, according to the report.

Officials disclosed the couple was employed by a nighttime cleaning service, which allowed Garcia to “keep a close eye on the victim.”

“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,” the news release stated.

Three years after her abduction, the victim was coerced into marriage by Garcia. She gave birth to his child in 2012.

The case has been turned over to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

California Woman Located 10 Years After Being Kidnapped