Illegal immigrant accused of kidnapping 12-year-old girl, holding her hostage after previous deportation

A man accused of kidnapping a 12-year-old girl and holding her hostage — as well as murdering three others — is a previously deported illegal alien who entered the US without permission, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed this week.

The 12-year-old girl escaped the mobile home of 37-year-old Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes on Monday. Police in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, responded to a 911 call from a driver who found the girl walking alone alongside a road in Dadeville, Alabama, The Daily Wire reported.

Court documents show the girl had been assaulted, drugged with alcohol, and tied to a bed post for nearly a week before escaping. Authorities also discovered two corpses at the scene.

"It’s horrendous to have a crime scene of this nature and also a 12-year-old juvenile to deal with this horrendous situation," Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett said Tuesday.

In a statement given to Daily Caller News Foundation, an ICE spokesperson confirmed that Pascual-Reyes was previously deported in 2014.

The girl was crucial in helping authorities launch a 24-hour investigation that led to Pascual-Reyes' arrest in Auburn, Alabama, about 25 miles from the mobile home where he’s resided since February, according to a police estimate.

Authorities also charged Pascual-Reyes on two counts of abuse of a corpse. He’s currently being held in Tallapoosa County Jail pending a bond hearing.

It’s unclear when the kidnapping occurred. According to the DCNF, the two bodies found were those of Pascual-Reyes’ girlfriend and her 14-year-old son.

Last month, federal officials announced they're considering a pilot program to give illegal migrants easier access to healthcare, housing, and transportation.

The Los Angeles CountyBoard of Supervisors decided last week to nix US citizenship as a requirement for government jobs within the county.

Meanwhile, New York City Democrat Mayor Eric Adams said on July 21 that he cannot handle the recent  increase of over 2,800 migrants into NYC's homeless and public welfare programs and that it was a real "burden" to the already "overburdened shelter system."

Jacqueline Burgess, executive director of the Tri-County Children’s Advocacy Center, told WSFA the girl showed bravery and courage in ways she had never seen before. The girl remains safe and protected while the investigation continues, she said.

"Our role in that is to interview the child in a way that’s not scary," Burgess said. "That is developmentally appropriate so that they’re not questioned by 50 different people on what is probably the most traumatic thing that’s ever happened to them."

Burgess said the agency never wants a child's life to be defined by these events and that "We want to teach them how to be resilient and how to heal from this trauma."

According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, over 365,000 reported missing persons, including youth, were filed into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center. Of those, nearly 90,000 records remained active by the end of 2020. About one-third of those cases were regarding individuals under 18 years old.