Gruesome Discovery After 12-Year-Old Girl Escapes Captivity

A 12-year-old girl walking down a roadway in Alabama on Monday morning led to two bodies being located in a nearby house, decomposed, and the arrest of a man on felony kidnapping charges, officials said.

Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes, 37, could also face capital murder and other charges after a bystander found the child at about 8:30 a.m., Monday.

“I will say that she is a hero, said Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett during a press conference Tuesday. Investigators later found two bodies decomposed at the house, south of Dadeville, and Pascual-Reyes was arrested in Auburn on first-degree kidnapping charges, Abbett said.

The girl’s relationship with Pascual-Reyes and additional details on who was found dead were not released. The sheriff’s office had first been in contact with the girl on Monday, Abbett said after she was found by passersby and was not considered missing. WSFA, an NBC affiliate in Montgomery, reported court records to show that the girl was tied and given alcohol before she was able to run away.

District Attorney Jeremy Dear said there would likely be more counts of capital murder filed along with kidnapping charges. “And certainly, as we proceed and complete our investigation, I am confident several additional charges will come,” Duerr said. Pascual-Reyes was held in jail on Tuesday evening.

It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak for him. The identities of those found dead and their manner of death were not released Tuesday.

The girls received medical treatment and are doing well, Abbett said. “She is now in good hands, so we wanted to leave her in that condition, she said.