Kidnapped 12-Year-Old Chews Threw Restraints To Escape; Decomposing Bodies Found At Captor's Home

Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes (Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and for this twisted story, those words could never be truer.

A 12-year-old girl held captive in a rural Alabama residence escaped and was discovered walking along a road, prompting an investigation that led police to discover two decomposing bodies at the home where she had been kept, authorities said Tuesday.

José Paulino Pascual-Reyes, 37, was jailed on a kidnapping count, Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett told a news conference. District Attorney Jeremy Duerr said "multiple" additional capital murder charges were likely.

A motorist driving through a rural residential area spotted a child on the road on Monday morning and stopped, authorities said. Court records indicate the child had been drugged and bound but managed to escape, WSFA-TV reported.

The driver picked up the girl and called 911, prompting an investigation and search that led to police officers finding two decomposing bodies inside the residence where Pascual-Reyes lived and the girl was believed to be held, Abbett said. Other people lived at the residence, but no one else was there when police arrived, he said.

According to WRBL, the girl was tied to bed posts inside the mobile home for more than a week and given alcohol to keep her in a drugged state. Detectives said she chewed through her restraints and damaged the braces on her teeth.

The man was arrested in Auburn, Abbett said. It wasn't clear what information the girl might have provided to authorities, but Abbett called her a hero.

Authorities didn't release any information about the girl, including whether she had any relationship to the suspect. She hadn't been reported missing, the sheriff said.

"We gave her medical attention,’’ Abbett said. "She is safe now, and so we want to keep her that way."

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