Girl Abducted From San Jose, Calif., Home by Intruder; Mother and Brother Beaten

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A 9-year-old girl was abducted from her family's home by an intruder who apparently broke in through a window and hid, then beat the girl's mother and teenage brother before fleeing in his car, police said. The girl's mother and 13-year-old brother told authorities after Friday's abudction that they had never seen the man before, said Katherine Unger, a San Jose police spokeswoman.

"God forbid we don't find this girl tonight," Unger said. "We are so fearful that something bad could happen to her."

The suspect threw the girl, Janette Tamayo, into the back seat of a car that he had previously backed in the family's garage and ensconced behind the closed door, Unger said. It was unclear if he struggled with the mother and brother before or after putting the girl in the car.

After the bleeding and distraught mother called 911 from a neighbor's home at about 4:30 p.m., police fanned out over the South San Jose neighborhood.

Unger said Janette, a fourth-grader with long brown hair streaked with blonde, usually spent afternoons with a baby sitter. It was not clear whether the baby sitter was there when the man broke in; the mother and brother said they were attacked by the suspect after arriving home together, she said.

The California Highway Patrol issued a statewide Amber Alert at 7:30 p.m. alerting motorists to be on the lookout for a tan or silver sedan that witnesses reported seeing fleeing from the area.

The mother was taken to an area hospital for her injuries, which included wounds to her face and "massive head injuries," but her condition was not known, Unger said.

The suspect also attempted to choke the boy with such force he told authorities it felt as if "the guy was trying to break his neck," Unger said.

Authorities described the suspect as short and in his early 20s. They said he had a deep scratch on his face from his struggle with Janette's mother.

Since the suspect also spoke Spanish, "our natural fear is that he is taking off to Mexico," Unger said.

This is an adorable kid. I shudder to think that she was targeted because she is a little beauty.

Here's an update from the San Jose Mercury News:

Search intensifies for kidnapped S.J. girl

Jeannette Tamayo.

A day after the brazen kidnapping of a 9-year-old girl from her South San Jose home, police intensified their search for the missing child as new details emerged in the case.

Jeannette Tamayo was home alone when she was snatched from her home Friday at 4:37 p.m. by a stranger who later beat her mother and 15-year old brother, police said.

Roselia Tamayo, 31, and her son, Pablo, had just arrived home when the boy triggered the automatic garage door opener. Twice, the boy tried to open the door and both times it opened halfway then closed. On the third try, he ducked into the garage as the door was closing, San Jose police said.

As soon as he entered, the intruder grabbed him by the neck and began beating him as a visibly terrified Jeannette cried in the back seat of the man's car, police said.

Unable to get into the garage, Tamayo ran inside through the front door and confronted the stranger who still had her son by the neck and was threatening them both. When the boy asked the man what he wanted, the man stared at him blankly as if he was on drugs, police said.

Suddenly, the man released him and began savagely beating his mother with pans and whatever else he could find in the house. Tamayo fought back, possibly scratching the assailant on his face and arms and biting one of his fingers. Her son fled to the neighbor's house for help. But just as quickly, the man drove out of the garage, drove around Tamayo's sport utility vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, and barreling over shrubs as he sped away with Jeannette still in the car.

Jeannette is Latina, 4 feet 11 and 70 pounds. She has brown eyes, long black hair with blond streaks and was wearing a green shirt and black pants, police said.

Her kidnapper is described as an unshaven Latino in his 30's to early 40's, 5 feet 2 to 5 feet 5 inches tall, about 160 pounds with dark hair. He was wearing a gray beanie and silver colored shirt. He was driving a late 80's to early 90's silver Honda Accord or similar car with rear tinted windows and a loud muffler.

He drove south on Southwind Drive and was believed to have gone north on Monterey Highway, possibly to Highway 101.

Tamayo suffered serious injuries to her face and upper body. Her son also had moderate injuries to his face and upper body. Both were treated at a local hospital and released.

Although some items were taken from the home, police still have no clear motive for the abduction.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call (408) 277-4166 or (408) 277-5681.

Posted on Sat, Jun. 07, 2003

Family tells of brutal struggle
DESPERATE HUNT CONTINUES FOR 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL
By Roxanne Stites, Katherine Corcoran, Sandra Gonzales and Gary Richards
Mercury News

The man who abducted 9-year-old Jennette Tamayo from her San Jose home Friday waited more than two hours for the girl to return home from school and spent up to 30 minutes alone in the house with her, police said.

Police on Saturday scoured South Bay hillsides with bloodhounds and repeated urgent statewide ``Amber Alert'' warnings in their search for the child who loved the colors pink and purple and was last seen terrified, crying in the back seat of her kidnapper's car before he peeled out of the driveway.

The girl's mother and 15-year-old brother described a brutal, bloody attack as they arrived home to find the kidnapper in their house. For 10 minutes, they fought for their lives before the man raced away.

The girl and her kidnapper remained missing late Saturday. Police now say they are looking for a Latino in his mid-20s, 5-foot-2 to 5-foot-5 tall, weighing about 160 pounds, unshaven and with dark hair. He might have scratches and cuts on his face and arms, and a bite mark on one finger from the confrontation in the garage and kitchen of the Tamayo home on the 5900 block of Southwind Drive. He spoke Spanish.

For the young girl's friends, the abduction was terrifying.

``I'm really freaked out,'' said Lyla Pack, 9, a classmate at Blossom Valley School. ``Yesterday when I heard about it, I said I'm not leaving my mom's side. It gives me the creeps.''

Neighbor's video

San Jose police were able to establish a valuable timeline of Friday's chilling events, thanks to interviews and neighbor Karen Kamfolt's home surveillance cameras, which usually capture innocent images of neighborhood children laughing and playing outside, or of neighbors walking their dogs along neatly trimmed lawns.

Police said they believe the man targeted the Tamayos' house, but they don't know why.

``We still don't have a clear motive. Was this a total stranger, someone who had a grudge against the family, or a sexual predator? We don't know,'' said Catherine Unger, a San Jose police spokeswoman.

Relatives went in and out of the house Saturday afternoon but did not speak to reporters. A young man believed to be Jennette's brother, Pablo, covered his head with a white towel, and Roselia Tamayo, the girl's mother, came home in a hospital gown with a bandage on her forehead.

Kidnapper's arrival

Police believe the abductor parked a silver car that resembled a late 1980s to early 1990s Honda Accord with tinted rear windows in front of Jennette's house between 1:30 and 2 p.m., two hours before the fourth-grader was due home from Blossom Valley School.

Next-door neighbor Ray Monzon was pulling out of his driveway at 2:20 p.m. to pick up his child from school when he saw a man in a parked car in front of his house.

The two made eye contact, and Monzon thought it was ``strange'' to see the man in his car. But he forgot about it when he returned 20 minutes later and the man was gone.

``I thought the man had no business here, but then he disappeared, I thought it was over,'' Monzon said.

Sometimes a babysitter would meet the girl or her mother would pick her up. But Friday she arrived to an empty house.

The video revealed that a minute and a half after the girl arrived home, the suspect entered the house. No one is certain what happened in the next half-hour, but about 4:25 p.m., the man came outside through the garage door and casually went to his car as if nothing was wrong.

He then backed his car into the garage and shut the door.

A few minutes later, Tamayo arrived home with Pablo. When he tried opening the garage with the door opener, it budged only a few feet. He tried a second time and it still wouldn't fully open.

The boy crawled under the door and made eye contact with his little sister in the back seat of the man's car. He could see her terror.

``Her arms were down by her side,'' Unger said. ``But he wasn't sure if she was bound.''

The man grabbed Pablo, twisting his neck. As the boy screamed, Tamayo ran through the house and into the garage.

Tamayo described the man as looking at her with a ``blank stare'' and appearing as though he was under the influence of drugs. Police said Tamayo asked him what he wanted.

``You know what I want,'' he told her.

Tamayo said she didn't know and asked him again what he was doing and what he wanted. The man repeated himself: ``You know what I want.''

Man escapes

He then lunged at Tamayo, hitting her with pots and a ladder, and at one point put a knife to Pablo's throat, Unger said.

As Tamayo fought for her life, her son escaped, rushing to get help from a neighbor.

The attacker darted into the garage, opened the door and drove off, crushing some rosebushes and knocking down a garbage can as he wheeled around Tamayo's Ford sport-utility vehicle in the driveway.

Tamayo and her son told police they did not recognize the man.

Police talked to Jennette's father early Saturday but said little about what he told them. Tamayo remarried several years ago, and neighbors said the stepfather was kind to her children.

Irene Juarez, a former tenant of the Tamayos' who remains friendly with the family, told the Mercury News that she had seen Jennette's father only once. He came to the house two years ago, she said, and the children seemed frightened by him. She said Tamayo asked her to tell him she wasn't home. Juarez said that about that time, Tamayo had been seeking child support from the children's father.

Search efforts

Evidence technicians combed the residence Saturday, searching for fingerprint residue or any clues to help in their search. San Jose police issued a nationwide alert for Jennette and her kidnapper.

But their main search efforts are focused on a 25-mile radius, with her home being the approximate center. They had a helicopter in the air for several hours Saturday, and had horse-mounted officers, bloodhounds and officers scouring the diverse topography: densely populated neighborhoods, industry, creeks and riverbeds, drainage canals, and the foothills.

``This is a very intense investigation,'' Capt. Don Anders said. ``We worry for this young lady and the family. Her mother was terribly assaulted and the community would be proud of the manner in which she fought for her little girl. The mother did not give up. In that respect, she helped set the theme. We're going to do everything we can to find this little girl and ensure her safety.''

Moving to San Jose

Friends said Tamayo worked at Solectron for about 10 years but was laid off and moved to San Diego a year ago to be near relatives and her mother in Tijuana, Mexico, where Pablo and Jennette often spent summer vacations. Tamayo and her husband could afford only a small apartment and couldn't find good jobs, so they moved back to their house on Southwind in April.

Plus, Jennette wanted a back yard in which to play, and San Jose offered that.

Neighbor Corrie Monzon described Jeanette as a happy girl, always carrying a ``Lilo & Stitch'' doll. She quizzed neighbors about the Walt Disney movie and was always saying, ``You don't know `Lilo & Stich'?'' She was astonished when people weren't as infatuated with the movie as she was.

Around the neighborhood, she would play with younger girls and boys, brushing their hair and playing chalk games on the sidewalk.

`Real sweet girl'

``She's a real sweet girl, quiet at school. She's an average student who tends to work hard,'' said Lisa Barlesi, principal at Blossom Valley School. ``She was never ever a discipline problem and got along well with the kids. She always had a shy smile on her face.''

Barlesi said she had little contact with Jennette's parents and last saw the girl's mother during registration. ``Her mom doesn't speak a lot of English, and I know she works a lot,'' Barlesi said.

For parents at the school, which is closing this week because of budget cuts, the news hit hard.

``It's unbelievable, it's unreal,'' said Lyla's mother, Francine Pack. ``I can't even imagine it. I can't understand what this mom is going through.''

Barlesi, who spoke to Jennette's closest friends Friday, said psychologists will be at the school this week to counsel students. ``They're very upset. This is very scary in a child's mind,'' she said.

As friends, neighbors and classmates prayed for Jennette, her teacher, Mike Barnhart, thought about how excited she was.

On Friday, the last day of school, the class planned to watch a movie. It was a movie Jennette had seen but was eager to see again.

``Lilo & Stitch.''

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