SANTA ANA, Calif. — In August of 2004 a mother reported her teenage daughter missing after she and her live-in boyfriend disappeared following a domestic violence incident. She told police she thought her daughter had been sexually abused by the boyfriend, but had no evidence to verify the claim.
According to sister station KTLA, 41-year-old Isidro Garcia was arrested Tuesday by police in Santa Ana and is accused of holding the now 25-year-old captive, allegedly abusing her physically and mentally over the past decade.
KTLA reports that Santa Ana officers were contacted by the victim after she “eventually gained the courage to contact the police.” According to police the victim said that the night she went missing, Garcia had assaulted her mother before drugging her and taking her to a house in Compton, Calif. There she said she was held in a garage by Garcia, unable to escape, and supplied with a false identity.
She told police in the following months and years that Garcia told her that her family had given up searching for her and that if she tried to go back, her family would be deported. She said he also repeatedly abused her sexually and physically.
She told police she was forced into marriage by Garcia in 2007 and the two had a child in 2012. She said he arranged for both of them to work at an overnight cleaning service so he could keep a close eye on her. She also said Garcia moved them repeatedly to avoid being detected by police.
Police say the victim saw no way to escape after years of physical and mental abuse until she recently contacted her sister on Facebook and then contacted police on Tuesday, leading to Garcia’s arrest.
Garcia is being held by Santa Ana police on suspicion of kidnapping for rape, a lewd act with a minor and false imprisonment. The case has been sent to the Orange County Prosecutor’s Office for formal filing. The victim has not been identified by name.
