Girl, 8, Escapes Captor

V A L L E J O, Calif., Aug. 14, 2000 -- An 8-year-old girl who had been missing for two days is safe after a daring escape from her abductor, authorities said.

The girl, who was grabbed by a man in a car Thursday as she walked home from school, was able to escape her captor Saturday afternoon — even though her leg was restrained in the front seat of his car, police said. The girl’s family, who spent 48 agonizing hours praying for her safe return, said she usually walked home with her brother. But for some reason, she was alone Thursday when she started the 10-block walk. She was only a block from home when her abductor grabbed her, police said.

Somehow on Saturday, she was able to find the keys to her shackles, unlock her herself and bolt from the vehicle. She then ran screaming for help up the street toward a passing truck in Santa Clara, said Anton Morec, a spokesman for the Santa Clara Police Department.

The girl’s name, which was originally reported after her abduction, is now being withheld by many news agencies since the charges against her suspected attacker include sex crimes.

Tried to Pick Lock

The driver of the 18-wheel truck “pulled up, she jumped up immediately into his vehicle. She told him she had been kidnapped and she needed help,” Morec said. “She did all the right things. Her instincts were very good for an 8-year-old.”

Truck driver Carl Tafua said the girl showed him the chain mark on her leg and quickly explained how she managed to free herself.

“She was screaming, saying, ‘He’s coming to get me, he’s going to kill me,’” said Tafua.

The girl tried to pick the lock of her leg shackles Friday with anail file, but the tip broke off so she abandoned that plan. Shespent Thursday and Friday night sleeping on the front seat of herabductor’s car.

Her suspected kidnapper had chased her as she ran down the street but quickly turned around when he saw she had reached someone, said Lt. JoAnn West of the Vallejo Police Department. West said the driver recognized the suspect.

Suspect Arrested

Police arrested Curtis Dean Anderson, 39, that evening in San Jose. Anderson has a previous kidnapping conviction and has served time in the Solano County jail for that conviction, said West. He also has previous arrests for weapons violations, she said.

Police are looking into the possibility that he was involved in the disappearance of another girl.

Although they aren’t clear on why, police believe Anderson drove the 8-year-old to an industrial area of Santa Clara. They said Anderson had worked at a business on the street where he allegedly parked his car and left the girl alone for a moment. The suspect and the girl probably spent Friday night in his car near the business, police said, but police are not yet sure where the two spent Thursday night.

Santa Clara is about 45 miles south of San Francisco and 70miles southwest of Vallejo, where the girl lives and was last seen before the abduction.

Going Home

The girl’s family was waiting for her return Saturday with balloonsand signs to welcome the tired little girl home.

The girl’s parents talked to their daughter by phone Saturday and the family was reunited as crowds cheered and applauded. Her father carried his daughter through the throngs of media and and well-wishers. The girl was examined at an area hospital for injuries Saturday before being reunited with her parents. Hospital officials reported the young girl was in good condition and she appeared extremely composed as she entered the hospital.

However, she was hungry and ate several hamburgers as police questioned her about the ordeal.

Since her family had originally planned to celebrate her’s Aug. 3 birthday Saturday, they decided to combine her birthday and coming home bash into one enormous celebration. Hundreds of well-wishers lined the street outside her home and sang “Happy Birthday” to the suddenly teary-eyed little girl.

“I’m grateful,” said her mother. “She is a hero; she got away. She outsmarted him.”

Vallejo residents remember too well an eerily similar case last December when another 8-year-old girl, Xiana Fairchild, disappeared on her way to school. She has yet to be found.

ABCNEWS affiliate KGO in San Francisco, ABC Radio and The Associated Press contributed to this report.