Deadville, Ala. – A 12-year-old girl held captive in a rural Alabama mobile home fled and was found walking along a road, after an investigation police discovered two decomposed bodies at the home where she was kept, officials said. said on Tuesday.
Talaposa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett told a news conference that 37-year-old Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes had been jailed for kidnapping. District Attorney Jeremy Durer said there was the possibility of “multiple” additional capital murder charges.
Officials said a motorist passing through a rural residential area saw a child on the road on Monday morning and stopped.
Abbett said the driver picked up the girl and called 911, prompting an investigation and search, which led police officers to find two decomposed bodies inside the residence where Pascual-Reyes lived and is believed to have kept the girl. went. He said other people lived at the residence, but when the police arrived, there was no one else there.
Detectives say the girl was confined to a bed for more than a week and given alcohol to keep her in a state of intoxication. WRBL-TV affiliated with CBS Columbus, Georgia Report. Investigators say she ran away by chewing on her restraint, damaging the braces on her teeth in the process.
Detectives believe the girl was abducted around July 24 and that the suspect intended to hurt or sexually abuse her, the station says.
According to WRBL, the metal base of the mobile home was broken, and it appears that investigators were focusing their attention on the ground beneath the mobile home.
The man was arrested in Auburn, Abbett said. It was not clear what information the girl might have given to authorities, but Abbett called her a hero.
Police did not immediately release the names of the dead or cause of death, and court records did not include the name of a defense attorney who could speak on Pascual-Reyes’ behalf.
Authorities did not release any information about the girl, including whether she had any relationship with the suspect. The sheriff said he was not reported missing.
“We gave him medical attention,” Abbett said. “He’s safe now, and that’s why we want to keep him that way.”
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were also involved in the investigation, WRBL reports.
