CALYSTA CORDOVA - 9 yo - Pueblo CO

PUEBLO, CO - Authorities have activated an Amber Alert for a 9-year-old girl in Colorado who didn’t return home from school Thursday.

According to the Pueblo Police Department, Calysta Cordova has not been seen since 3:30 p.m. after she left Columbia Elementary School in Pueblo, Colo.

Residents in neighboring states like Arizona may want to keep an eye out for her.

She’s described as a Hispanic female and is 4-feet-10-inches tall with brown eyes, and her shoulder-length hair was last seen in a ponytail.

Calysta was last seen wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, and a blue Columbia school uniform shirt. She also had a black and pink backpack.

Authorities say she may have gotten into a white vehicle after school, possibly a Mercedes, according to a source.

The driver of the vehicle is unknown.

Anyone who may have seen Calysta is encouraged to call 911.


Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/amber-alert-activated-for-missing-girl-in-colorado#ixzz1k0ju9IwM

Amber Alert Canceled Pueblo Girl Found Safe In Colorado Springs

Suspect Still At-Large

UPDATED: 9:34 am MST January 20, 2012

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Colorado Springs Police have canceled the Amber Alert for a Pueblo Girl who was missing since last night. She was found safe in Colorado Springs say Colorado Springs Police.
Police says they are investigating at this time, but it appears the girl was found at a gas station near Commerce Center Drive and Woodmen Road.
An Amber alert was issued Friday morning for a 9-year-old girl who didn't come home from school on Thursday. Police issued the alert just after 3 a.m. Friday.
Pueblo police say Calysta Cordova did not come home from Colombian Elementary Thursday after school.
A witness told police that she got into a white passenger car possibly a white Mercedes.
Initial information that we are hearing is that someone recognized the girl from the Amber Alert. The the suspect went into a bathroom and when he did Calysata ran.

http://www.krdo.com/news/30260685/detail.html

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Pueblo police confirm
to 7NEWS that a man suspected of abducting a 9-year-old girl as she was
walking home from school has been arrested.Jose Garcia, 29, was
reportedly found at a bus stop in downtown Colorado Springs, about 7.5
miles south of the Circle K convenience store where he was last spotted
Friday morning.The girl, Calysta Cordova, was found safe at the Circle K around 9 a.m.Witnesses said she appeared to have
two black eyes, a cut lip and bruises on her cheek and jaw. She was
taken to Memorial Hospital to be treated for her injuries."I
don't know if you say a young child like that is OK during an experience
like this but they are working with her right now. She's in the
hospital getting treatment," Colorado Springs police spokeswoman Barbara
Miller said.Police officers had believed that Garcia was on foot
in the Colorado Springs area, so they had been going door-to-door
notifying businesses, hotels and schools about the search.
Calysta Was Defiant, Called 911 Herself
Miller said Garcia and the girl were traveling in a car when it
broke down early Friday. A bystander picked them up and dropped them off
a mile away -- at the Circle K convenience store at Commerce Center
Drive and Woodmen Road, Miller said.The girl ran into the store, asked for the phone, saying she wanted to call her uncle, but she called 911 instead, police said.It was immediately apparent to witnesses in the store that something was wrong."She
had two black eyes, bruises on her cheek. Right away that was a red
flag," said witness Efren Vialpando. "She was in bad shape. The bruise on her face was enormous."When Garcia went into the store, the girl was defiant and refused to go anywhere with him, witnesses said.When
the man ordered her to listen to him she screamed back, "I'm not going
anywhere with you! I'm waiting for my mom," witnesses said.Garcia then ran out of the store, witnesses said."I looked the guy dead in the eye and he just spun around and took off," Vialpando added.One
of the witnesses told 7NEWS that he recognized Calysta from the Amber
Alert, which was issued around 3:30 a.m. Friday. He also said he was a
graduate of Columbian Elementary School -- where Calysta goes to school
-- and recognized the school's thunderbolt on her jacket.Calysta
disappeared while on her way home from Columbian Elementary School
Thursday afternoon. Her mother reported her missing when she didn't
arrive home.Investigators initially believed that she may have been in a white Mercedes.After
investigating through the night, Pueblo police asked the Colorado
Bureau of Investigation to issue the Amber Alert early Friday and requested assistance from the FBI.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30257003/detail.html?source=den

What a smart, brave little girl. Thank God she is alive.

What an evil POS this guy is. Thank God he is brain dead.

PUEBLO, Colo. -- She escaped a violent kidnapper 45 miles from home to save herself by calling 911.

Now, a 9-year-old Pueblo girl is home and her community is rallying around her. FOX31 Denver has learned the child was sexually assaulted, so we'll no longer identify her.

They came bringing flowers, stuffed animals and mixed emotions to the victim's home in the 900 block of Palmer Ave.

"We just prayed for her safe return. And we're just glad she's home. I couldn't imagine ever losing my kids," says Pueblo resident Amanda Quillen.

Friends and strangers touched by the spirit of a child who stared fear in the face and won.

"She's a hero to everybody. She showed more bravery than I would have," says Quillen's 11-year-old son Tony Shamy.

"She's one of the lucky ones. I'm really glad she got through that," says 10-year-old Elianna Chavez, who dropped off flowers at the home.

A gang of Harley riders roared in to show community support and admiration for a little girl who showed courage and composure way beyond her 9-years.

"We wanted to show her how much she means to us and how much she means to the community of Pueblo," says Melissa Alcon with The Brotherhood of Chicano Bikers.

The group met the girl and her family at a hair salon where she got her hair done and escorted them back home.

Pueblo police say 29-year-old Jose Garcia kidnapped the child when she walked home from school Thursday afternoon.

The victim goes to school with Garcia's former step-daughter, who lives just doors away.

He's accused of kidnapping and molesting her as well. Police got the report of that assault the same day the 9-year-old went missing.

"She is doing wonderful and she is happy to be home," says her step-dad Steven.

Steven is very proud of his scrappy little girl who came outside to play for a while Saturday amidst a large gathering of friends and family.

"There's no way I could be as brave as her. So she's my hero and always will be," says the girl's mom, Stephanie.

They say she fought back--scratching and punching her abductor and has two black eyes to show for it.

"Watch your children," says Steven. So a community celebrates a young girl's life knowing they could have been mourning it.

Police are not saying yet what happened during the 18 hours Garcia had the child.

One officer says he may have taken the child to his mobile home on the east side of Pueblo before driving to Colorado Springs the next day.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-friends-family-celebrates-safe-return-of-girl-9-2012121,0,2610997.story

FOX31 Denver has learned the child was sexually assaulted, so we'll no longer identify her.

So, all of her neighbors, friends and family know her and know what happened and yet you are redacting her identity. I feel this "depersonalizes" the heinous crime that occurred. By taking her identity away aren't they, in a manner, trying to deny the obvious?

​
Jose Garcia, who prompted Amber alert after 9-year-old went missing: Serial child molester?

By Michael Roberts
Mon., Jan. 23 2012 at 5:59 AM

The more information that surfaces about Pueblo's Jose Garcia, the creepier the allegations against him become.

In addition to accusations that he prompted an Amber Alert by grabbing nine-year-old Calysta Cordova, who escaped, he's been charged in a second sex assault on a child.

Cordova, who's being identified because her family made her available for a 7News interview, reportedly
vanished en route from Columbian Elementary School to her Pueblo home this past Thursday afternoon, prompting her mom to report her missing around 3:30 p.m.

Calysta Cordova.

​
Early the next morning, cops issued an Amber Alert. However, Cordova's subsequent rescue appears to have occurred through a combination of intervening fate and her considerable moxie. Garcia's truck broke down in the Colorado Springs area, and the pair were given a ride to a nearby Circle K by a good Samaritan who did not recognize her. Cordova than raced into the convenience store ahead of Garcia and asked the clerk to use the phone -- a request that was granted due in part to her condition. She had two black eyes, a split lip and appeared to be disoriented.

Fortunately, she was more together than she seemed. Although she told the staffer she needed to contact her uncle, she instead dialed 911.

And then, when Garcia stepped into the store and ordered her to accompany him, she refused. After getting the thousand-mile-stare from witnesses inside, and learning that Cordova had already alerted
authorities, he split, but he didn't get far. Later that day, he was nabbed walking near a bus depot a few miles from the Circle K.

In the hours that followed, another finger was pointed at Garcia -- this one attached to a woman who said she was his ex-girlfriend of four years. According to her, her ten-year-old daughter "says that he took her out and took her to his house and he was drunk," she told KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs. "And he started groping her and touching her inappropriately. So right then and there I contacted law enforcement."

Turns out that this girl lived on the same block as Cordova.

At this point, Garcia, who has a number of past arrests involving driving under the influence and property crimes, is under investigation for multiple counts involving kidnapping and sexual assault. Look below to see his driver's license photo, his mug shot and a report from 9News.

Jose Garcia's drivers license photo.

​




http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/01/jose_garcia_kidnapping_sex_assault_child_molester.php

What no neck tattoo? Get with the program Jose!

Updated: 11:27 PM Jan 23, 2012

New Charge Filed Against Pueblo Kidnapping Suspect



A new kidnapping charge was filed Monday afternoon against Jose Garcia, the suspect accused of kidnapping a 9-year-old girl last week. The previous charges against him pertained to a different kidnapping and sexual assault case.

Jose Garcia, the center of a manhunt Friday, made his first appearance in court Monday. That appearance didn't pertain to the Amber Alert he was allegedly involved in last week.

Garcia, 29, was arrested Friday after allegedly kidnapping a 9-year-old girl Thursday. The victim managed to escape Garcia after his truck got a flat and a Good Samaritan brought the pair to a Springs Circle K; the 9-year-old saved herself by placing a call to 911. Police are calling the child a hero.

Garcia was brought into Monday's video advisement by himself. All other inmates on the court docket were advised together, then the room was cleared out to bring Garcia in. The jail tells 11 News that Garcia is also being held alone in his own cell, for his safety.

Clad in a suicide gown, which the jail says is a preventative measure, Garcia told the judge that he understands the charges he faces.

Garcia was in court for advisement of charges stemming from an alleged kidnapping and sexual assault. He is accused of picking up his ex-girlfriend's daughter from school and sexually assaulting her. In that case, he is charged with second-degree kidnapping and sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust for crimes against his ex's daughter.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by 11 News, Garcia told both the school and his ex's child that he was signing her out to go to a dentist appointment. Instead, he took the child back to his home, where he touched her inappropriately.

The victim told officers that Garcia never said anything during the crime, but that he "seemed tired" and "was wobbly."

Garcia brought the victim back to school 30 minutes later. The victim goes to the same elementary school Columbian, that the 9-year-old kidnapped Thursday attends.

The new charge against Garcia appeared on the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office database Monday afternoon. While the other was kidnapping in the second degree, the new kidnapping charge is in the first degree.

It is still unclear if the new charge pertains to the Amber Alert or if it pertains to the case with his ex's daughter.

Garcia is not eligible for bond because of a probation violation. He was on probation for a criminal mischief charge.

11 News is also asking Pueblo police some tough questions about the two cases.

Why did it take so many hours to link two kidnapping cases from the same school? One girl was taken and reportedly molested by Jose Garcia. Police knew who the suspect was in that case at that time. Just a few hours later, another girl, from the same school, was kidnapped on her way home, sparking a statewide Amber Alert.

"We're following along [with] 11 News and the conversations that are on the news, and we have the same questions with what happened with this Amber Alert,” family friend Rudy Valles said.

“Why was it not guaranteed, especially when it is coming out that the neighbor was abused."

The nine-year-old was reported missing shortly after she didn't return home from school Thursday, but the alert didn't go out until early Friday morning.

"We have to have a sufficient amount of criteria to put it out,” Capt. Rich Goddard, with the Pueblo Police Department, said. “We were working towards that from the beginning."


http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/Kidnapping_Suspect_Makes_First_Court_Appearance_137878978.html?ref=978

If he had been arrested when he should have been, Calysta would not have been kidnapped, beaten and raped.

Jose Garcia convicted of kidnapping brave 9 year old who escaped, called 911 for help


Posted: 05/29/2013

Last Updated:

8 hours ago



PUEBLO, Colo. - A jury has convicted a man at the center of an Amber Alert last year.

Jose Garcia was accused of kidnapping a 9-year-old neighbor as she was walking home from school last year in Pueblo.

The next day, the bruised and beaten girl managed to escape Garcia at a convenience store and call 911. Moments later, Garcia walked in, but the girl stood her ground and refused to go anywhere with him.

KRDO-TV reported that Garcia was found guilty of all of the counts against him.

The Pueblo girl disappeared while walking home from Columbian Elementary School on a Thursday afternoon in January 2012. Her mother reported her missing when nshe didn't arrive home at 3:30 p.m.

About 12 hours later, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued the Amber Alert.

Garcia and the girl were traveling in a truck when it broke down the next day in Colorado Springs, police said. A bystander saw their disabled vehicle, picked them up and dropped them off a mile away -- at a Circle K convenience store. That driver did not recognize the girl from the Amber Alert, police said.

The girl quickly went into the store, asked the clerk for a phone, saying she wanted to call her uncle, but she called 911 instead, police said.

It was immediately apparent to witnesses in the store that something was wrong.

"She had two black eyes, a bruised lip and a bruise on her cheek," said witness Daniel Espinoza. "She was scared. She was in shock."

"She was in bad shape. The bruise on her face was enormous," said witness Efrin Villapando. "She just looked a bit disoriented and, of course, she told the teller that she was lost."

When Garcia walked into the store moments later, the girl was defiant and refused to go anywhere with him, witnesses said.

When the man ordered her to listen to him, the 9 year old stood her ground.

"I think the guy was trying to get her to leave. And she just said, 'No. I ain'’t going nowhere. I'm waiting right here for my momma,'" Villapando said.

Garcia then ran out of the store when he realized that she had called 911, police said.

"I looked the guy dead in the eye and he just spun around and took off," Villapando added.

"The best news is that despite the traumatic ordeal the little (girl) endured, once she realized she had that window of opportunity, shebecame a hero and rescued herself by calling 911," police said.

"We have a very, very brave, courageous young lady who did things to save her life, and I'm very, very proud of her," said then Interim Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey.

The girl was taken to Memorial Hospital where she was treated and released.

Garcia was arrested a few hours later while walking near a bus depot in downtown Colorado Springs, about 7 miles south of the Circle K convenience store where he was last spotted.

An employee at the bus terminal recognized the suspect as the man wanted for questioning, and a Colorado Springs police officer patrolling the area quickly him into custody, police said.


http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/jose-garcia-convicted-of-kidnapping-brave-9-year-old-who-escaped-called-911-for-help