PA. little girl is found- Suspects arrested!

[AKAtude]

Originally posted by ClassyLady
Something about this case is really starting to seem fishy to me. It's getting a lot of coverage here and something about all of this just doesn't sit right with me. I was watching the news yesterday, before she was recovered, and her mother was on there saying "I have a feeling that everything is going to be okay." She was just a little too calm for me. I know you can't expect everyone to behave a certain way when their child is missing, but she just gave me the creeps. It was almost like she knew for a fact that her daughter was okay. And, then when I heard that the little girl had escaped and how she did it. The way that she got free, it just seemed like too much for a seven year old girl to be able to do. Supposedly, she bit through the duct tape, hobbled up the steps, kicked through the door, broke the window and then screamed for help. Something just doesn't sit right with me about all of this.

I am starting to wonder if her mother wasn't some how involved. Lord, I hope not but that's what my gut is telling me.

You have taken the words out of my mouth. While listening to the news this morning, I heard about her escape. When they she bit through duct tape, I was wondering why her mouth wasn't taped shut, but they taped her eyes. Then, they said she knocked or kicked down a door.

With all the coverage on missing children lately, I too, began to wonder if the family didn't concoct this scheme to get coverage and cash in. I hope they investigate this from all angles. It would be a shame to have put a child in the midst of something like that for selfish reason.

However, I am glad she has returned home safely.

[AKA2D '91]

So, you all do not have curfews?

Unfortunately korkscru, children out at night is no longer uncommon in Philadelphia. There have been nights when I was coming in the house from my night out where I have seen children still outside playing with no adult in sight. Actually, I just saw a toddler, still in diapers, out walking on the sidewalk at 11 pm the other day. Her mother was on the porch, but was hardly watching her.

[kiml122]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
So, you all do not have curfews?

No there is no curfew in Philly.

One of my old co-workers has a cousin and this little girl is the niece....let's just say that this was a drug related thing of a rival drug gang, and leave it at that.

[AKA2D '91]

The Kidnappers were caught!


Philadelphia Girl's Accused Kidnappers Caught
Thu Jul 25, 1:35 PM ET
By David Morgan

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Two men accused of kidnapping a 7-year-old Philadelphia girl and demanding $150,000 were arrested on Thursday after a bruising chase on foot through their inner-city neighborhood, police said.


Reuters Photo


AP Photo
Slideshow: Erica Pratt Abduction Case

Abducted Pa. Girl Flees Kidnappers
(AP)



Investigators who spent Wednesday evening tracking the two suspects in southwest Philadelphia found James Burns, 29, and Edward Johnson, 23, as they sat in a Ford Explorer SUV just blocks from where Erica Pratt was abducted on Monday evening.

The pair was charged with 11 criminal counts including kidnapping and assault.

Police Chief Inspector Robert Davis said the men were preparing to flee the city. "They were either looking for money or some assistance in getting out of town. ... They were preparing to go down South."

Burns and Johnson, who have criminal records, allegedly grabbed Erica as she played with a friend in front of her grandmother's home, bound her with duct tape and locked her in the basement of an abandoned home in north Philadelphia.

Soon after the abduction, the family began receiving phone calls in which the callers threatened to kill the 3-foot-5-inch (104 cm), 70-pound (32 kg) child unless relatives came up with a $150,000 ransom.

Police said they suspect Burns and Johnson heard Erica's family had recently collected $150,000 from a life insurance police on one of the girl's uncles, killed last March in an apparent gang-related revenge slaying.

Officials said Erica, who spent nearly 24 hours in captivity, managed to free herself late on Tuesday by gnawing through her duct-tape bonds, kicking out a panel in the basement door and breaking a front window.

Youngsters heard her cries and summoned police.

The escape turned Erica into an instant local celebrity.

"I have 21 years in the police department and I have never seen this kind of heroic act of bravery committed by a 7-year-old," police Inspector Bill Colarulo said.

Police said Burns narrowly escaped officers late on Wednesday by fleeing into woods.

When a police car approached the pair early on Thursday, the two suspects bolted from the SUV and led officers on a foot race in which both men were injured, Burns with cut feet and Johnson with a pulled groin.

"One ran out of his sneakers. That's why his feet were all cut up. They ran a good three blocks, jumping over fences, and there was broken glass and debris around," said police Lt. David Byrne, one of the arresting officers.

Johnson, who injured himself scaling a fence, tried unsuccessfully to elude capture by lying on the roof of a garage. Officer Juan Rivera arrested him.

Erica's escape and the arrest of her alleged captors marked a rare happy ending in a string of recent high-profile child abduction cases in the United States.

"There is relief and satisfaction," said Davis.

[ClassyLady]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
... They were preparing to go down South."

Preparing???? If you have kidnapped a little girl, and have had your picture and name all over the news nationwide, you don't prepare to go down South. You grab you $h!t and go!!!!

[Bamboozled]

Originally posted by ClassyLady
Preparing???? If you have kidnapped a little girl, and have had your picture and name all over the news nationwide, you don't prepare to go down South. You grab you $h!t and go!!!!

Ok, now that's some funny isht right there. I am CTFU for real. Too funny!!! Thanks for making my night, Classylady!

[FeeFee]

Originally posted by ClassyLady


Preparing???? If you have kidnapped a little girl, and have had your picture and name all over the news nationwide, you don't prepare to go down South. You grab you $h!t and go!!!!

Obviously these men were not the sharpest ones in the tool shed, if you know what I mean
Grab your $h!t and go - stick and move, stick and move!!!!