A nine-year-old girl from Colorado escaped her captor and was reunited with her parents after calling 911 at a Circle K convenience store.
On Thursday, a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of Steven Ryno and Stephanie Cordova, was kidnapped on her way home from school.
Her parents immediately began to worry when she didn’t come home at 3:15 as usual, and an Amber Alert was issued for her disappearance at 3:15 AM the next morning. Ryno and Cordova were terrified.
Luckily, the girl’s alleged captor, Jose Garcia, ran into car trouble the following morning in Colorado Springs. His front tires had worn down, and he was unable to continue driving. A man picked up the pair on the side of the highway and drove them to a nearby Circle K convenience store, not realizing that the girl had been kidnapped.
Although Garcia had abused the girl—she had bruises and two black eyes, sources report—she was quick-thinking enough to enter the store before Garcia, and ask the cashier to call 911 on her behalf. Garcia darted off, but was captured by authorities later that day.
As for the nine-year-old girl, she was treated at a local hospital for her injuries, but was soon reunited with her relieved parents. “I’m going to get my baby,” Ryno joyfully told the Denver Post.
See a video about the story from The Today Show.