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Bronx Girl Whose Kidnapping Was Caught on Video Found Unharmed Bronx Girl Whose Kidnapping Was Caught on Video Is Found Unharmed
(about 3 hours later)
The grainy black and white video showed a nightmarish scene.The grainy black and white video showed a nightmarish scene.
A mother and her 16-year-old daughter were walking down a quiet street when out of nowhere a beige, four-door sedan stopped and two men forcibly dragged the teenager, Karol Sanchez, into the vehicle.A mother and her 16-year-old daughter were walking down a quiet street when out of nowhere a beige, four-door sedan stopped and two men forcibly dragged the teenager, Karol Sanchez, into the vehicle.
For hours on Tuesday, the video of the kidnapping, which took place on Monday at around 11:20 p.m. in the Melrose section of the Bronx, captivated New Yorkers.For hours on Tuesday, the video of the kidnapping, which took place on Monday at around 11:20 p.m. in the Melrose section of the Bronx, captivated New Yorkers.
Then came a surprising update: The police said on Tuesday afternoon that they had found Ms. Sanchez, unharmed. At first, there was good news: Ms. Sanchez had been found, unharmed.
The details of what happened remained unclear, but the police said she was found on the same block where she had been abducted. On Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Sanchez was being questioned by officers from the 40th Precinct, according to the police. Hours later, more disconcerting information surfaced: The department was investigating the possibility that the whole thing had been a hoax that stemmed from Ms. Sanchez’s difficult relationship with her mother, according to a police official.
Shortly after she was found on Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Sanchez was questioned by officers from the 40th Precinct, and then released to her family.
An investigation as to whether Ms. Sanchez set up her own kidnapping is ongoing, the police official said. If found to be true, Ms. Sanchez could face criminal charges.
A police official said the family was contemplating a move to their native Honduras, but that Ms. Sanchez was adamant she wanted to remain in the United States.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, the police had released footage from a security camera near the scene and asked for the public’s help in solving the crime.Earlier on Tuesday morning, the police had released footage from a security camera near the scene and asked for the public’s help in solving the crime.
The police said the unsuspecting mother and her daughter were out for a stroll on Monday night when the sedan, occupied by four men clad in black, stopped in front of 745 Eagle Avenue. Two of the men, believed to be in their 20s, then got out of the vehicle and snatched the teenager. The police said the mother and daughter were out for a stroll on Monday night when the sedan, occupied by four men clad in black, stopped in front of 745 Eagle Avenue. Two of the men, believed to be in their 20s, then got out of the vehicle and snatched the teenager.
When the mother tried to intervene, she was pushed to the ground, the police said. She was not seriously injured.When the mother tried to intervene, she was pushed to the ground, the police said. She was not seriously injured.
The sedan immediately fled east on East 156th Street, the police said. A family friend, Destiny David, 20, said the news had reverberated in the Sanchez family’s close-knit Honduran community.
Ms. Sanchez, who is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds, had last been seen wearing a dark blue short jacket, a white sweater, blue jeans and black sneakers, the police said. “We all know each other,” Ms. David said over the phone before Ms. Sanchez was found. “We don’t know why they took her.”
A family friend, Destiny David, 20, said news of the kidnapping had reverberated in the Sanchez family’s close-knit Honduran community. Reached by phone before Ms. Sanchez’s reappearance, an aunt said her niece, who lives with her mother in Dutchess County, N.Y., was in town for an appointment. The aunt, Idalmy Martinez, 56, said the family was desperately looking for answers.
“We all know each other,” Ms. David said over the phone. “We don’t know why they took her. We just want her to be found soon.” “She is a very happy, calm person,” Ms. Martinez said. “She’s always with her mother. They are very close. She is always around us, her family.”
A police official said the family was contemplating a move to their native Honduras, but that Ms. Sanchez was adamant she wanted to remain in the United States. Investigators had been trying to determine if the potential move played a role in the kidnapping. The original details of the supposed kidnapping were so shocking that the Police Department’s chief of patrol, Fausto Pichardo, had asked the public for help identifying the men and locating Ms. Sanchez. “Have you seen Karol Sanchez?” Chief Pichardo said on Twitter on Tuesday morning.
Reached by phone, an aunt said Ms. Sanchez, who lives with her mother in Dutchess County, N.Y., was in town for an appointment. The aunt, Idalmy Martinez, 56, said the family was desperately looking for answers. Ms. Martinez added that Ms. Sanchez’s father has not been part of her life for years.
“She is a very happy, calm person,” Ms. Martinez said. “She’s always with her mother. They are very close. She is always around us, her family. We don’t know why they would take her.”
The details of the kidnapping were so shocking that the Police Department’s chief of patrol, Fausto Pichardo, had asked the public for help identifying the men and locating Ms. Sanchez. “Have you seen Karol Sanchez?” Chief Pichardo said on Twitter.
The police commissioner, Dermot Shea, also used Twitter to publicize the security camera video that captured the attack.The police commissioner, Dermot Shea, also used Twitter to publicize the security camera video that captured the attack.
The police issued an Amber Alert on Tuesday. A woman who said she lived in the area recalled hearing an older woman scream for nearly 10 minutes at around 11:30 p.m. on Monday. The woman, Breanna Faulkner, 29, said she went outside to check out what was happening and encountered Ms. Sanchez’s mother, who was sobbing and screaming.
Ms. Sanchez’s kidnapping comes just days after the deadly stabbing of Tessa Majors, a Barnard College freshman. The attacks on the two young women come at a time when the city is experiencing record low crime rates not seen since the 1950s. “It sounded like something out of a horror movie,” said Ms. Faulkner.
Rates for violent crime have remained relatively steady this year in the Bronx neighborhood where Ms. Sanchez was taken, which is patrolled by the Police Department’s 40th Precinct. There have been 10 murders there so far this year, compared with eight last year. Felony assaults also increased slightly, to 683 from 679. The mother was speaking in Spanish, so Ms. Faulkner found a neighbor who could help translate. Eventually, Ms. Faulkner said, she called 911 and the police arrived about 30 minutes later.
Ms. Majors was walking through Morningside Park in Manhattan last week when she was attacked by three people and stabbed her several times, the police said. The police issued an Amber Alert on Tuesday morning, nearly 12 hours after Ms. Sanchez was abducted, which angered some officials.
A 13-year-old boy implicated himself in the attack last week and was expected to face charges on Tuesday. The police said at least two other teenagers may have taken part in the crime. “Across our country and across the Bronx, across the city, black girls in particular are disappearing and no one seems to care,” the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, told reporters. “We do want to know why the Amber Alert took so long.”
A man who works at a parking garage near where Ms. Sanchez was kidnapped said he gave additional surveillance video that captured part of the assault over to the police. He added: “I know for a fact, the type of response that often comes too often depends on what that person looks like. No more. We love our children. It shouldn’t take 11-12 hours for an Amber Alert.”
“I’ve never seen something like that before,” said the man who did not want to identify himself. “It shocked me, you know. I have kids. I can’t imagine that happening to my kids.” Typically, in cases involving missing underage persons, local law enforcement agencies contact the New York State Police, who then issue an alert. It’s uncertain why in Ms. Sanchez’s case, the alert happened so much later after her disappearance.
Beau Duffy, a director of public information with the New York State Police said the New York Police Department requested an Amber Alert be sent out at around 9 a.m. An hour later an Amber Alert was widely spread.
A local police department must determine that the minor abducted is in danger of being physically harmed, Mr. Duffy said.
The news of Ms. Sanchez’s disappearance had come just days after the deadly stabbing of Tessa Majors, a white Barnard College freshman, had made national news.
Ms. Majors was walking through Morningside Park in Manhattan last week when she was attacked by three people and stabbed her several times, the police said. A 13-year-old boy implicated himself in the attack last week and is expected to face charges. The police said at least two other teenagers may have taken part in the crime.
At the time that the kidnapping was made public, it seemed natural for New Yorkers to connect the two crimes against the two young women.
Instead, the police are now trying to determine whether Ms. Sanchez broke the law.
Rebecca Liebson contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.Rebecca Liebson contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.