Unexpected twist after woman found gagged and bound inside vacant house
A case involving a woman who was found bound and gagged in an abandoned house has taken a puzzling twist with detectives unable to determine how she got in that state.
Law enforcement had previously been told by the woman, aged between her late 30s and early 40s, she had been abducted from a bike trail and taken to the vacant house.
However, in the hours following the woman’s discovery, police began to find inconsistencies in her story.
Detectives with the Los Angeles’ Santa Ana police department told the LA Times on Tuesday evening, the woman told authorities earlier that day a man had kidnapped her and forced her to walk to a nearby vacant lot where she was bound and gagged.
In the hours following that initial account though, detectives were able to ascertain in an interview her story didn’t add up.
“Based on that interview, they now know a kidnapping did not occur,” Santa Ana Police Corporal Anthony Bertagna told the LA Times.
“The investigation has now moved to — how did she get in the state the patrol officers found her?”
Cpl. Bertagna said the woman, who is experiencing homelessness, had been found earlier that day by city workers who went to the vacant house to perform scheduled maintenance duties.
Upon entering the property the workers had heard moaning and then found the woman tied up in a bedroom.
The police officer said it was not uncommon to find homeless people sheltering in vacant properties in Santa Ana but added that “you don’t usually find them bound and gagged.”
Since establishing the kidnapping story was not true, authorities now needed to figure out what actually happened and detectives could ultimately submit the women to district attorney for making false reports to police, Cpl. Bertagna said.
“Our understanding is she’s married, and so we know she has a life, and she was separated from her husband to go do something,” he said.
“Now the question for the detectives is what occurred in that house.
“We’re glad there’s not a person kidnapping people off the streets of Santa Ana — but now we have to figure out what happened in the house, and was it criminal in nature?”
The investigation is ongoing.
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