Young Girl Outwits, Helps Catch Predator

March 12, 2007 -- -- This report was originally published on July, 21, 2005.

When a predator kidnapped Jeanette Tamayo from her house, she reacted like few 9-year-olds would: She began a plan of action that would eventually lead to her freedom and the arrest of her captor.

On June 6, 2003, Jeanette was coming home from school when a man followed her into her house in San Jose, Calif. When her mother and brother followed shortly thereafter, he severely beat them both, handcuffed Jeanette, and stuffed her into a box in the backseat of his car.

As police searched, her parents prayed. Experts say if an abductor intends to kill a victim, the murder will take place within the first few hours of the abduction.

Jeanette was taken to a house and handcuffed in a second story bedroom. The man threatened to kill the young girl and severely abused her for two days.

Jeanette says she was scared, but her actions show that she was cool-headed and resourceful, too. She knew she couldn't escape him by physical force, so she decided to outsmart him. "I had to get his trust," she said.

"Killers often dehumanize their victims," said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Matt Braker, who prosecuted the case. Jeanette might have kept herself alive by talking to her abductor.

"Every step of the way she was not just quiet, not scared to death to the point where she wasn't talking, not interacting; she kept interacting to the point where she became a real person to him," he said.

Jeanette says it was hard to speak to her abductor. "I really just wanted to punch him and hit him!" she said.

But she says she treated him like a "normal" human being and her plan began to work. "He started trusting me." Soon he removed her handcuffs and let her walk freely around the house.

That's when Jeanette says she began gathering evidence to use against her abductor.

How did she think to do such a thing? Jeanette says she and her mother watched detective shows like "Cops" and "C.S.I."