The bravest person of the day award goes to 9 year old Calista Cordova of Colorado Springs, CO who escaped from her kidnapper on Friday.
On Thursday, Calista was kidnapped while walking home from school. On Friday, her kidnapper's car broke down and a stranger stopped and gave them a ride to a gas station. Calista called 911 and refused to leave the station until the police came.
Calista at the time had two black eyes and a bruise on her lip and face.
The suspect, Jose Garcia fled and was caught by police. The a-hole actually had the nerve to smile for his mug shot.
Bless her heart. I'm glad she's safe and they caught the asshole who gave her those black eyes.
ReplyDeleteThis is a parent's worst nightmare. I am so glad she had the smarts to save herself.
ReplyDeleteThis is a parent's worst nightmare. I am so glad she had the smarts to save herself.
ReplyDeleteImpressive that she was more clear headed and brave than terrified and immobile. Good for Calista; glad she's safe.
ReplyDeleteShe is SO brave. I am so glad she spoke up when they were in a public place! I am so happy she is safe. Hopefully other kids will learn from her, and if G-D FORBID, ever put in that situation, will do the same.
ReplyDeleteWhat a brave young girl. It's great that one of these stories had a good ending.
ReplyDeleteI hope the a**hole that captured her gets the book thrown at him. Who gives a 9 year old two black eyes?! Poor baby.
Way to go Calista! What a brave little girl!
ReplyDeleteI hope Jose becomes the bitch of many in prison. He won't even have to drop the soap in the shower when the other inmates find out what he's in for. Thank the lord that car broke down. I'm so happy Calista is safe.
ReplyDeleteAmazing girl! Her family must be so proud.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he'll be smiling when he's crowned the prom queen of Florence Supermax.
(Unfortunately, I doubt he'll spend the rest of his life there as somebody's cabana boy, but one can dream.)
Where's Dexter when you need him???
ReplyDeleteThank goodness she got away. How terrifying. Hopefully, Jose is murdered. Anyone with even the thought should be killed.
ReplyDeleteVicki - unfortunately the Supermax is federal prison. He will probably go to Canon City This place that she escaped from is right Down the street from my old apartment. What a brave girl
ReplyDeleteDamn. I only know its name from Law and Order: SVU anyway.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he tried to kidnap her for a reason. Like if he was going to sell her as a sex slave or use her as a drug mule.
News says they may not hold him because he's not an American citizen (WTF?). He'll be deported to Acuna, and 24 hrs. later back in Colorado. As a man of faith - I forgive him and as a parent I would tell him I forgive him...even as I boil him alive in a vat of acid for hitting that sweet child.
ReplyDeleteThere's a website that parents can go to and it teaches kids how to escape, evade, and survive an attempt or attack. Stuff like scream, honk horn, yell RAPE or FIRE (never yell HELP), CURSE, leave cell on, find CCTV cams, and do ANYTHING to avoid allowing them to haul you into private. It's great advice written FOR KIDS - incl. articles by Eliz Smart and others who advise what they wish they could have done and what they DID do to survive. I think it's linked on the Amerc. Most Wanted site (I think). I'm sooo proud of this lil hero!
What a brave soul, I'm so glad she's safe now...
ReplyDeleteI thought it didnt matter if you were a citizen or not - if you commit a crime here when you are here illegally, you are going to jail anyways? We have recently had a murder in my area committed by a man here illegally, and he is being sentenced here, serving out his term, and then sent back to his home country.
ReplyDeleteYEAH!! You go, girl! Hell yeah. That fucker should be beaten to a bloody pulp in a public stockade and then left there to for the grackles to pick at until he dies. Fucker.
ReplyDeletei am glad she took action, and they caught the man. wondering if the driver offered her any help at all once they got to the station, or if she did it all herself? i think we must all take a risk and speak up about such things. obviously, she was beat up. if you see something wrong like that, call 911! who cares if you are wrong. better wrong than allowing it to go unchecked.
ReplyDeletealso, he deserves life. but i am sick of reading about people advocating rape in prison. too many innocent people in jail, or people in for light offenses, are subjected to this. sex is not meant to be a punishment, and to suggest so kind of puts you on the same level with the sex offender. plus, some of these men come back out to society, with hang-ups about being raped; with STD's they spread, or a taste for raping and violence. it is not something to condone.
UNKNOWN...you are correct. That you for being so morally courageous in defense of this poor man, since yeah - he was probably treated awful himself right? (which excuses him right?).
ReplyDeleteWhich is why we should forgo the rape and even prison altogether.
Since the lil girl ID'd this animal it's pretty cut and dried. SO I suggest we do a public torture or private execution. Either way is fine with it.
As a former resident of the corrections system many years ago myself? I strongly advise you to spend a month inside and see how you feel about kiddie rapers/killers. Even gangsters/killers won't tolerate them.
If you still advocate their rights and leniency? Will you just let him move in with you and let him babysit YOUR kids for the weekend. How's that? More HUMANE? There's ZERO chance this guy is the wrong man here. That's like saying Caylee Anthony deserved her fate because her poor mommy was abused??
When the girl was dropped at the gas station, she ran inside and asked to use the phone. The kidnapper tried to get her to leave then, and she screamed "no - I am waiting here for my mommy", the clerk did not have time to help, Jose ran out of the store. I like to believe that the clerk would have not let her leave with him, he obviously didn't give her a hard time about using the phone after all.
ReplyDeleteJose is either the father or stepfather (reports have shown either way) of Calista's best friend, who lives next door to her - hence the reason she probably accepted a ride home from school in the first place.
She was a very smart little girl, and her parents obviously cared enough to go over these things with her in the first place, so I hope they are able to get her the help she needs to get past this, and I hope he rots in a special place in hell.
this little girl is a rock star! what a brave little thing. (yay for good parenting, too.) and lol and the ignorant comments about him going free. seriously.
ReplyDeleteShe is a brave hero. Couple of things. She's actually from Pueblo, CO which is about 40 minutes away from Colorado Springs, but she escaped in Colorado Springs. Jose Garcia, the former boyfriend of a neighbor of Calista's, had also kidnapped and assaulted that lady's daughter earlier that day before he grabbed Calista.
ReplyDeleteYou go Calista!!! Sometimes a girl's just got to save her own damn self. Great job!!!!
ReplyDeleteI hate child and woman endangering assholes that smile at the camera in their mug shots or in front of news crews. Reminds me of this douche scumbag that assaulted a girl in her home. When the police caught him and hauled him away he flashed a big toothy smile and actually made the peace sign for the cameras.
ReplyDeleteSave the government some cash. Leave me and a couple of other moms with baseball bats alone with that bastard.
ReplyDeleteco-sign Unknown.
ReplyDeleteHmmm - I don't care whether he was abused himself or whether what he did was morally reprehensible. Wishing acts of violence on others for vengeance makes you no better than any other common criminal. What career criminals do in prison, is not my barometer of the right way to behave. No-one suggested that this individual should not be held in jail and treated appropriately but your solution appears to me to be as bad as what he perpetrated on that innocent little girl.
So glad this girl was able to get away. And that she was so courageous!
ReplyDeleteAs much as I respect Unknown and Jaded, I couldn't disagree more. Wishing a violent rapey end for a rapist/kidnapper/molester/murderer/puppy killer is NOT the same as actually raping/kidnapping/molesting/murdering/kicking puppies. It doesn't make someone any less human. It's a completely normal and healthy way to emotionally deal with hearing a horrible story. Actually crossing the line and taking the law into your own hands brings you down to their level.
ReplyDeleteUnknown and Jaded, I agree so much. Let's not bring ourselves down to the level of this scum.
ReplyDeleteNot a citizen? No problem. I'd just deport him to the nearest shallow grave.
ReplyDelete@Damned Fallacy, thanks for straightening out the facts that I was going to mention. I wonder if you, like me, live in Colorado Springs. I would like to add that the smiling mugshot photo is not that. The photo that was circulated was from before he was captured. He had been identified by the girl and I think it came from an employee or school id. It was of him and also had his signature & thumb print on it. It was so scary on Friday when all of this was going down. He ended up being found at the bus station about 3 miles from my house.
ReplyDelete@Unknown -- "i am sick of reading about people advocating rape in prison. too many innocent people in jail, or people in for light offenses, are subjected to this. sex is not meant to be a punishment, and to suggest so kind of puts you on the same level with the sex offender. plus, some of these men come back out to society, with hang-ups about being raped; with STD's they spread, or a taste for raping and violence. it is not something to condone."
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying this. I couldn't agree more.
While I won't go so far as to advocate raping or abusing of inmates who've committed crimes of this nature (I have to grit my teeth and remind myself that's it's not a matter of what kind of person the perp is, but what kind of person I am, and I don't want to sink to their level), I have to admit that I just can't bring myself to feel sorry for people like that who end up falling prey to prison justice. My pagan friends believe in the Threefold Law--whatever you put out there comes back to you threefold--so I'm just going to sit back and let Karma take care of him...and we ALL know what kind of bitch she can be.
ReplyDeleteI am glad this beautiful little girl kept her composure and was able to escape from this monster. Hopefully she will get past this horrible experience.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Calista is a brave and resourceful little girl, and I pray that, as awful as being punched in the face was, nothing worse happened to her. *shudder* Hang in there, sweetie--we're all rooting for you!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness that car broke down. What a smart/courageous young lady.
ReplyDelete