Young woman claims she was abducted, forced into decade-long marriage

Police say Isidro Garcia drugged and kidnapped the young woman in California when she was just 15 and abused her for a decade, forcing her to marry him and have his child. Fear and deception: police in southern California say Garcia used both to hold a young woman captive for nearly 10 years. The victim doesn’t want to be identified, but speaks out for the first time. “I am so happy… and God blessed to be with my family… all the time, I cry for them and my mom and my sisters.”

Visibly emotional, she reunites with family she hasn’t seen in years. She told police she was drugged and taken by Garcia, who was her mother’s boyfriend at the time. Police believe the victim is from Mexico and was in the country illegally. They think Garcia used that to convince his victim to keep quiet all this time.

“He tells her that her mother doesn’t care, and she can’t go to the police because they’re going to deport her,” said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department.

The victim tells police she was forced to marry Garcia when she turned 18. Investigators say she even gave birth to Garcia’s child. The mother and victim’s identities are being protected due to claims of repeated sexual abuse. The suspect’s neighbors were shocked.

“She always seemed happy and he always makes good parties for her and everything,” said one neighbor Maribel Garcia.

“They’d be happy, kissing, holding hands? And, like ,she comes up with this now. Why did she take so long to do it, you know?” Questioned another neighbor.

More than 10 years ago, Elizabeth Smart survived being kidnapped and held captive. She shed some light on this question.

“As a survivor, who has been chained up in physical chains and also had the threats over me, I can tell you that threat is stronger than those physical chains.”

A survivor’s story, offering an explanation to a community asking themselves how this happened so close to home. The young woman eventually came forward after finding her sister on Facebook. The attorney for Garcia says her claims of physical and sexual abuse are lies made up because the couple is breaking up.