Kidnapped Girl Who Chewed Off Restraints To Escape Led Authorities To Find Two Dead Bodies

A 12-year-old Alabama girl escaped her kidnapper on August 1, 2022, leading police to discover the deceased bodies of a 29-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy.

José Paulino Pascual-Reyes, 37, was arrested and he has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, abuse of corpse, and capital murder.

A 12-year-old Alabama girl escaped her kidnapper on August 1, 2022, leading police to discover the deceased bodies of a 29-year-old woman and 14-year-old boy at the home she escaped.

Photo by: Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Office

Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Office

On August 1, 2022, a kidnapped 12-year-old girl from Alabama managed to chew her way through her restraints and escape, leading officers to make a deadly discovery.

Court documents said the girl had been abducted on July 24 and tied to bed posts for about a week while she was assaulted and given alcohol to keep her in a drugged state.

The girl managed to get free and escape by chewing through her restraints, breaking her braces in the process, the documents said. Deputies who found her noticed she had marks on her wrists where she had been restrained.

On August 1, a driver found the girl walking alone along County Road 34 in Dadeville, Alabama and stopped to help her before calling the police.

When law enforcement officials visited the suspect's home in rural Alabama, they found the dead bodies of a woman and a juvenile there. Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett called the child a “hero” for the information that led to this gruesome discovery.

The victims were identified as 29-year-old Sandra Vazquez Ceja and her 14-year-old son Omar Gallegos Vazquez. The bodies of Ceja and Vazquez were reportedly "cut into small pieces at the joints to hide evidence," according to the Associated Press. Ceja was smothered with a pillow and the boy was hit and kicked to death, documents showed.

The alleged kidnapper, José Paulino Pascual-Reyes, 37, was arrested and charged with first-degree kidnapping, abuse of corpse, and capital murder, according to The New York Times.

In March 2023, he was indicted on nine counts of capital murder and two counts of corpse abuse, according to WSB-TV.

Next Up

Navajo Nation Girl Assaulted, Killed After Man Kidnapped Her While She Was Playing

Tom Begaye Jr. left the 11-year-old child to die in the desert after “repeatedly hitting her on the head and face with a tire iron.”

Missouri Pair Allegedly Kidnapped Woman, Held Her Captive In Cage, Authorities Say

An anonymous tipster reportedly sent the FBI a photo of the victim restrained and partially nude.

True Crime News Roundup: Missing California Woman Found Dead In Remote Woods, Ex-Husband Arrested

Plus: Four University of Idaho students brutally murdered; Pregnant Florida mom found shot; Gabby Petito’s family awarded $3 million in lawsuit; Parents of boy found dead in washing machine charged with his murder.

Man Accused Of Murdering Grad Student In L.A. Furniture Store Indicted On New Charges

In January 2022, Shawn Laval Smith allegedly attacked 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer after he entered the business where she was working alone, police say.

Missing Alabama Woman May Have Been Kidnapped And Pushed Off A Cliff

Mary Elizabeth Isbell Wright has been missing for nearly two years. After a long investigation, Loretta Kay Carr, 43, has been arrested and charged for kidnapping and murdering her.

Kidnapping Victim Helps Orchestrate Her Own Rescue By Holding Up Sign Saying 'Help Me'

A 13-year-old girl was rescued after holding up a sign from the window of Steven Robert Sablan’s car in a Long Beach, California parking lot.

Florida Woman Allegedly Murders Roommate, Pours Soda On Herself To Destroy Evidence

Nichole Maks, 35, allegedly murdered her 79-year-old roommate at the Daytona Beach home they shared and tried to cover up the evidence by pouring Diet Mountain Dew on herself.

True Crime News Roundup: Texas Man Accused of Kidnapping and Torturing Woman He Met On Dating App

Plus: Utah family of 8 found fatally shot in murder-suicide; Probable cause affidavit released for University of Idaho murder case.

Texas Kindergartener Found Dead 5 Years After Stranger Kidnapped Her Near Grandparents’ Home

A younger cousin playing outside with Opal Jo Jennings said a man ran up, punched the girl, forced her into a car and sped away.

An Oklahoma Murderer Took A Crucial Case Detail To His Grave

It took police nearly 20 years to make an arrest in the case of missing child Kirsten Hatfield, but her body has never been found.