Kidnapping / Abduction Survivors

Kidnapping / Abduction Survivors

KIDNAPPING / ABDUCTION

Do you know, every 40 seconds a child goes missing or is abducted in the United states? The most common age to get kidnapped / abducted is when you are 12-20 years old, or in middle school. Luckily, 99% of juvenile kidnapping cases were not found dead, but alive. There are many cases where the person who was kidnapped survived, these are some examples of those people.

 

JAYME CLOSS

Jayme Closs was kidnapped on October 15 2018, the same night her parents were shot and killed. The police followed thousands of tips and did everything they could to find her, but their efforts to find her failed. Until January 10 when Jayme Closs was found outside of a small town called Gordon, which was located about an hour away from her home. 21 year old Jake Thomas was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Jayme Closs’s parents and Jayme’s kidnapping after pleading guilty.

 

ELIZABETH SMART 

Elizabeth Smart was 14 years old when she was kidnapped by Brian David, then held captive by Brian and his wife. She was held in the woods, where she was abused and sexually assaulted for nine months. Elizabeth’s sister recognized the kidnappers voice, which led them to get a sketch of him and eventually catch the kidnapper. Brian was sentenced to life in prison while his wife was released after 15 years in September 2018.

 

KARA ROBINSON

Kara Robinson is a 15 year old girl who was kidnapped while she was watering her friend’s plants. Richard Evonitz came up to the house and got Kara to come closer to him by pretending to give her a flier, when she got close enough to him he held a gun to her neck and forced her to get into a container in the trunk of his car. Kara was held hostage for 18 hours, where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted. Kara waited for her captor, Richard Evonitz, to fall asleep. Then she wiggled out of her restraints and escaped through the front door where she flagged down a vehicle and got them to help her. Richard was then connected to three other murders of girls around Kara’s age, and was suspected that he would’ve killed her too. Her captor shot himself when he was cornered by the police.

 

KAMIYAH MOBLEY

On July 10 1998, A woman named Gloria Williams had a miscarriage. Leading her to kidnap Kamiyah Mobley, who was born only a few hours earlier. Gloria brought her back home to her husband and her other children, where she raised Kamiyah as her own. When Kamiyah was 16 she wanted to get a job, which forced Gloria to explain to her why she didn’t have a valid birth certificate and social security card. For the next year of her life they lived in hiding, until someone sent in an anonymous tip about Kamiyah. Kamiyah has a strained relationship with her biological mom, and she has made it known that she supports Gloria, who Kamiyah continued to address as “mom”.

 

KATIE BEERS

After Katie beers was kidnapped, on December 28 1992 two days before her tenth birthday, she terrified the nation with a phone call that was released to the public: “Aunt Linda, a man kidnapped me and has a knife, and oh no, here he comes right now,”. A family friend, John Esposito, kidnapped her and sexually abused her in a bunker located in his basement. Katie Beer’s was missing for 17 days before John led the authorities to the bunker where he kept her.  He told the authorities he had made the bunker for her, but Katie Beers sees the case differently. She associated the kidnapping with “”saving her”. Before the kidnapping Katie was living with her godmother and her husband, who abused her.

 

These are all examples of people who survived kidnappings/Abductions and their stories. Although these people got a happy ending not every kidnapping story has a good ending. Do you know anyone who’s been kidnapped? How did their story end?

The Reid Technique – interrogation made easy

The Reid Technique – interrogation made easy

The Reid Technique is a 9 step police interrogation method, which is the final phase of a 3 phase interrogation process.

The Confrontation

The detective starts the interrogation by presenting evidence, whether it be real or fake, on why the police have led to the decision that the suspect is in fact a suspect. The detective can move throughout the room and invade the suspect’s personal space. They present the evidence in confidence the entire time. The suspect’s level of stress may start to increase. They may start fidgeting or grooming themselves as well.

The Justification

The detective, in a soothing or soft voice to lure the suspect into a false sense of security, establishes stories or themes on why the suspect might have committed the crime. The detective could move the blame away from the suspect, and put it onto another person’s circumstances that could justify why the suspect committed the crime. The detective looks for excuses that may be brought up from the suspect many times. The theme or story that the detective brings up may change to see if the suspect likes one scenario more than another. For example, if the suspect nods their head, or if they seem to pay more attention during one scenario than the other.

Denial Interruption

During the entire investigation, the suspect may start producing denial of any guilt. Detectives need to stop this as it could increase the suspect’s confidence. The detective will kindly interrupt the suspect in their denial, saying things like they will be given a turn to talk in a moment, but right now they need to listen. A low amount of denials tells the detective that there is an sign of guilt, and they are on the right track to getting the suspect to confess.

Overruling objections

Once the suspect fully latches onto a story that the detective produced, the suspect may begin to throw out objections. The detective should treat these differently than simple denials, and should try to turn them against the suspect. They use the opportunity to get the suspect to move towards the acknowledgement of their crime. When done correctly, the suspect’s objection can be turned into an admission of guilt.

Reinforcing Security

At this point, the suspect may begin to feel unsure, and start to be unreceptive. The detective should start the phase of reinforcing security. The detective starts to pretend to be the suspect’s ally, and will act more sincere. The detective may use physical gestures such as patting the suspects back, or putting his hand on their shoulder.

Indications of Surrender

The suspect could begin to buckle under the stress. They could hunch their shoulders, or put their head in their hands. To increase the level of stress in the suspect, the detective may make eye contact with the suspect. If the suspect begins to cry, this indicates to the detective an indicator of guilt. The detective will use these insecurities to transition to the next step, which are the two alternatives.

The Two Alternatives

The detective proposes two alternatives on why the suspect might have committed the crime. One alternative is more socially acceptable to society, so the suspect is expected to choose that one. It doesn’t matter which alternative the suspect chooses, as they both admit guilt. The detective hides a third alternative from the suspect, which is where the suspect maintains that they did not commit the crime.

Bringing Witnesses

The detective is then ready for the admission of guilt. Yet, before that can happen, the detective brings in one or more witnesses.  Sometimes the detective steps out entirely and makes the suspect confess to a different person. All this is done to keep the suspect’s stress level high provides a way for the truth to come out from the suspect easily.

The Confession

At the end of the interrogation, the detective records the suspect’s admission. This can be done by video, audio, or any other means of recording.

TL;DR

The Reid Technique is a common and easy tool that detectives use for interrogation. It’s many steps work together to increase the suspect’s stress level and to get closer to a confession. Although it is a very common tool, it is not 100% fool proof and has led to false confessions. In conclusion, The Reid Technique is a high risk, high reward method of interrogation.

Police Aren’t as Trustworthy as we Thought

Police Aren’t as Trustworthy as we Thought

Police Aren’t as Trustworthy as we Thought

 Police are given too much power. There have been many cases where officers commit crimes and use their badge as an excuse or use it to create fear. The people that are sworn to protect us have let a lot of us down. 

Police Cases

 Officer Bradley Stewart Wagner. According to cnn10.com, Bradley raped a woman in a parking lot on a night in California. She was getting followed by the officer after she had filled up on gas. He pulled her over and asked for a license and registration but as an undocumented immigrant, she didn’t have them. Officer Bradley told her that he can take her to go get deported. She begged him to let her stay and that she had four kids at home waiting for her. In response, he took the woman over to another parking lot and asked if she had any drugs of any sort on her. She told him that she didn’t but he proceeded to touch her breasts and put his fingers through the zipper of her pants to “search” for drugs while the poor woman was shaking uncontrollably. Officer Bradley took her into his police van and forced her into the backseat where he put the woman’s arms in the position to get handcuffed and she for sure thought that she was going to be arrested and put in jail. Instead, he told her “You sexo for me, no problema.” He then raped the woman and once she escaped from him, he stood outside her car masturbating. Then, he told her that she will have to continue to have sex with him “forever” at the same place. She leaves the scene, traumatized and sick. She drives aimlessly to her house and her kids find her vomiting in a bush around 3 am. 

Officer Joseph Hunt. According to an article on twincities.com, this man sexually abused his adopted son (Chad Hunt) for eight years. Chad said that he would sexually abuse him five times a day. Chad could only escape this for three months every summer when he would go live with his grandmother. Chad said, “By my estimation, I was molested 1,480,” He also called Joseph a coward and a fraud for hiding behind the badge. Before the judge gave Joseph his sentence she said,” 1,480 times…that kind of takes your breath away,” and I could not agree more. Chad’s memories are haunting him. But at least Joseph got the jail time he deserved (3.4 years) but is it justice for Chad if Joseph was getting more than 2 million dollars while in jail? Because of the retirement benefits he gets, he’s getting around 30% more than the median family got in 2020. In 2020 the median family got $67,521 which was a 2.9 percent decrease to 2019. The median income for 2019 was $69,560, according to census.gov. If the same amount of income was earned in 2020 the years he was in prison, it wouldn’t come close to what his income was in prison. The amount of income that the median family would’ve earned in that time would be around $229,571. 

Deputy Richard Rodriguez. He was accused of using his badge to force a bunch of prostitutes into his patrol car and use them in inappropriate ways. Richard was charged with five felony counts of false imprisonment, three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, and one misdemeanor count of engaging in acts of prostitution. Throughout 15 months, Richard was picking up and telling these women that he had to “run” them in the system to confirm their identity while he was in uniform. Instead of doing what he said he would, he took the women to a secluded industrial area where he groped them and told them to strip. He took photos of the women while they were naked and in suggestive positions. Richard also handcuffed three of the women. Richard was sentenced to 16 months (1 year and 4 months) and in that time pocketed more than three million dollars because of his retirement benefits. Richard got almost 50% more than the median family did in 2020.

Reflection

  These are just a few of the many cases of police using their badge for the purpose it should never be used for. Creating fear and committing crimes. The sad thing is that they can get away with it because of their badge. “Serve and protect” that’s their motto, that’s their job. But if they don’t serve and protect, why do they get their badges? If this is what a lot of the officers that are sworn to protect us are doing, I would not want them in my community. I have read and heard so many stories of police wronging people and not being held accountable for their actions. It’s really scary when you look at it all. 

Even when these officers are arrested for what they do, they get retirement benefits. They can get millions while sitting in jail. Criminals should not be allowed to earn money because they are the ones that should be paying for their crimes.

Police Dog Find 24 pounds of cocaine in Bathroom Vanity

Police Dog Find 24 pounds of cocaine in Bathroom Vanity

A Drug trafficker got busted by a police dog. A determined police dog sniffs out more than 20 pounds of cocaine in a Bronx apartment. The cocaine was found behind a secret cabinet vanity in the bathroom and there were more than 20 pounds of it in there. The K-9 also helped bust Cesar Chavez, 51, and two others who were found with $125,000 in cash and a large amount of cocaine worth about $600,000.
Cesar Chavez is a man who kept a very large amount of cocaine during the CoronaVirus pandemic. His nephew Cristian Rodriguez and Roberto Javiar-Bastia both were in the Bronx and also caught by the sting. The police found lots of cash in the backpack and about half a kilogram of cocaine under that. All of the activities that happened, happened on September 3.
The DEA was notified when they saw Cesar Chavez carrying a brick-shaped package wrapped in plastic with Javier-Batista as they were leaving what they suspected to be Chavez’s apartment. Cristian Rodriguez and Roberto Javiar-Bastia hopped in a vehicle with the drug trafficker Chaves behind the wheel. Later they were observing a video of Chavez leaving his apartment and he had the same brick package seen earlier that day. Then after that, he got in a vehicle driven by Rodriguez Chavez.
When the police stopped the car they got in and found that Javiar-Bastia was trying to stash the package that they later found out was 2.2 pounds of cocaine. They then took Chaves’s key and then used it to get into his apartment and found the 20 pounds of cocaine. The cocaine packages in the bathroom had a stamp of a Chinese dragon. The cocaine in the packages would be worth about half a million dollars and would put at least a dent in their drug trafficking operations.
Cezar Chavez was charged with operating as a major trafficker and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degrees. “As traffickers navigate COVID-impacted drug markets, their drug stashes are more valuable and their concealment methods more necessary, as evident in this investigation,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan.

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