The Fallen Angels Page
This is a page in memory of those children or adults who have been taken from us suddenly, and without cause. It is filled with pictures and their stories. There is also to be found here stories of courage and ways you can protect you and your children in today's world.
Jane Siberry with K.D. LangCalling All Angels
Santa Maria, Santa Teresa, Santa Anna, Santa Susannah
Santa Cecilia, Santa Copelia, Santa Domenica, Mary Angelica
Frater Achad, Frater Pietro, Julianus, Petronilla
Santa, Santos, Miroslaw, Vladimir
and all the rest
Oh, a man is placed upon the steps, and a baby cries
high above the church bells start to ring
and as the heaviness, oh the heaviness the body settles in
somewhere you can hear a mother sing
Then it's one foot then the other as you step out onto the road
step out on the road, how much weight?
then it's how long? and how far?
and how many times before it's too late?Calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don't leave me alone
calling all angels
calling all angels
we're tryin' and we're hopin'
and we're not sure how...
Oh, and every day you gaze upon the sunset
with such love and intensity
why, it's,it's almost...it's almost as if
if you could only crack the code
then you'd finally understand what this all means
Ah, but if you could...do you think you would
trade in all the pain and suffering?
ah, but then you'd miss
the beauty of the light upon this earth
and the sweetness of leaving
Calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don't leave me alone
calling all angels
calling all angels
we're tryin'
we're hopin',
but we're not sure why
Calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don't leave me alone
calling all angels,
calling all angels
we're tryin'
we're hopin'
we're hurtin'
we're lovin'
we're cryin'
we're callin'
'cause we're not sure how this goes
In Memorium
Name: Miranda Diane Gaddis
Classification: Located deceased
Missing: 03/08/02
From: Oregon City, OR
Sex/Race: Female/White
Age: 13Circumstances: Miranda vanished on 03/08/02. Two months prior, her friend, Ashley Pond vanished on 01/09/02. The girls had disappeared while walking to their bus stop and both disappearances appeared to be suspicious. Law enforcement received a call from a young man who claimed his father, Ward Weaver, had raped his girlfriend. The young man also claimed that his father had confessed to killing Ashley and Miranda who had lived in an apartment complex close to Weaver's residence. On 08/24/02 law enforcement searched Weaver's property and located two bodies. Remains of one body were located inside a shed on the property and positively identified through dental records as Miranda Gaddis. Authorities also recovered remains from a barrel buried under concrete in Weaver's back yard and positively identified as Ashley Pond. Weaver remains incarcerated on charges related to the rape of his son's girlfriend. Charges are expected to be filed for the abduction and murder of Miranda and Ashley.
Name: Ashley Marie Pond
Classification: Located deceased
Missing: 01/09/02
From: Oregon City, OR
Sex/Race: Female/White
Age: 12Circumstances: Ashley vanished on 01/09/02. Two months later, her friend, Miranda Gaddis vanished on 03/08/02. The girls had disappeared while walking to their bus stop and both disappearances appeared to be suspicious. Law enforcement received a call from a young man who claimed his father, Ward Weaver, had raped his girlfriend. The young man also claimed that his father had confessed to killing Miranda and Ashley who had lived in an apartment complex close to Weaver's residence. On 08/24/02 law enforcement searched Weaver's property and located two bodies. Remains of one body were located inside a shed on the property and positively identified through dental records as Miranda Gaddis. Authorities also recovered remains from a barrel buried under concrete in Weaver's back yard and positively identified as Ashley Pond. Weaver remains incarcerated on charges related to the rape of his son's girlfriend. Charges are expected to be filed for the abduction and murder of Ashley and Miranda.
Name: Liana Marissa Sandoval
Classification: Homicide
Missing: September 26, 2001
From: Phoenix, AZ
Sex/Race: Female/ Hispanic
Age: 1-1/2Circumstances: Liana was reported missing by her mother and boyfriend. They indicated to police that the boyfriend had gone to do laundry that morning and the mother thought Liana had gone with him. As the investigation progressed Liana's mother confessed that her boyfriend had hit Liana causing her death. She then told investigators that they had dumped her lifeless body in the canal weighted by a rock tied to her body. Liana's mother and boyfriend are now facing charges of first degree murder.
Name: Andre Rene Bosse
Classification: Homicide
Missing: 06/17/97
From: Twin Lakes, MI
Sex/Race: Female/ White
Age: 11Circumstances: It was reported that Andre' was last seen fleeing from a neighbor's home on her bicycle. Dean Metcalfe, a neighbor of the Bosse's and the father of her best friend, admitted to kidnapping Andre' at gunpoint near her Lakewood Club home. He told authorities he raped her and later killed her, then dumped her body in Lapeer County. Though searches were conducted in several areas, her remains had not been located.
On Saturday, March 16th, skeletal remains, covered by debris, were found by a man walking through a field about 7 miles south of Lapeer, MI. Dental records have confirmed the identity of the remains as Andre Bosse. It is reported that Andre' had been kidnapped, raped and fatally shot. Metcalfe is serving a life sentence, along with two other life sentences in separate child sexual assault cases.
Name: Danielle Nicole Van Dam
Classification: Homicide
Missing: 02/01/02
From: San Diego, CA
Sex/Race: Female/ White
Age: 7Circumstances: Danielle disappeared from her home on the evening of 02/01/02. She remained missing until 02/28/02 when volunteer searchers located her body under brush on the side of the road, approximately 30 miles from San Diego in El Cajon. David Westerfield, a neighbor of the Van Dam family has been arrested and charged with Danielle's murder. Prosecutors in the case have stated that DNA evidence was found on his clothing and inside his motor home.
Name: Elizabeth Ann Byrd
Classification: Homicide
Missing: May 23, 2001
From: South Phoenix, AZ
Sex/Race: Female/ White
Age: 8Circumstances: Elizabeth had last been seen walking to school. Her family reported her missing that evening when they could not locate her. Her body was located near her school playground in a canal. A male individual has been arrested and confessed to the sexual assault and homicide of little Elizabeth.
Name: David Michael Borer
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Missing: 04/26/89
From: Willow, AK
Sex/Race: Male/White
DOB: 03/21/81
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Height: 4' 0"
Weight: 65 lbs
Identifying Marks: Front teeth protrude slightly, small scar under right eye, scar above left eye.
Jewelry: n/a
Last Seen Wearing: Red coat, green plaid shirt, and green jeans.Circumstances: At approximately 5:00 PM, David left his home to play at a sandbar near mile 82, near Wasilla, Alaska. It is believed he may have wandered to the highway where search dogs lost his scent.
Name: Jeremy Lee Dages and Bonnie Dages
Classification: Endangered Missing Child
Missing: 04/28/93
From: Brandon, FL
Sex/Race: Male/White
DOB: 12/13/92
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Height: n/a
Weight: n/a
Identifying Marks: n/a
Jewelry: n/a
Last Seen Wearing: n/aCircumstances: At approximately 9:00 PM, Jeremy and his mother, Bonnie Dages, went to a shopping center at Lithia and Pine Crest Rd., in Brandon. Their van was found locked in the parking lot but both remain missing.
Name: Christopher Milton Dansby
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Missing: 05/18/89
From: New York, NY
Sex/Race: Male/Black
DOB: 03/30/87
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Height: 2' 6"
Weight: 30 lbs
Identifying Marks: Figure eight shaped birthmark on neck.
Jewelry: n/a
Last Seen Wearing: Floral shirt, blue jacket, blue jeans, blue and white sneakers.Circumstances: Christopher was last seen at a park on 114th St. and Lennox Ave.
Name: Ptah Ka'Amen Diamond
Classification: Endangered Missing Child
Missing: 05/27/01
From: Eloy, AZ
Sex/Race: Male/Black
DOB: 04/08/98
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Height: 3' 0"
Weight: 37 lbs
Identifying Marks: Discolored front teeth.
Jewelry: n/a
Last Seen Wearing: Light blue shirt with the number "64" on the front, green-blue pants, and brown "Buster Brown" shoes.Circumstances: Unknown. Ptah was last seen with his father, James Diamond, in Eloy, AZ. Ptah and his father disappeared under unusual circumstances. James should be approached with caution.
Also for the disappearance of a young woman in British Columbia along the HIGHWAY OF TEARS -
Nicole Hoar.
...AND MAY WE NEVER FORGET THE MEMORY OF THESE DEAR CHILDREN:
JonBenet Ramsey
Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells
Polly Klaas
Samantha Runnion
TRIBUTE TO THE VICTIMS OF SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001
I couldn't possibly put each and every picture of those that died that terrible day, but here is a page that took the amazing time to do just that. Here you won't only find a write up about each person and their photograph, but a place to pay that person tribute by words and thoughts:
http://www.september11victims.com/september11victims/victims_list.htm
WAYS
TO PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN TODAY:Don't let your child wear clothing with his or her name on it. A child will tend to pay attention to anyone calling him or her by name.
LINKS
FOR SITES THAT HELP FIND MISSING CHILDREN AND ADULTS:
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - http://www.missingkids.org/The Lost Child Emergency Broadcast System - http://www.lostchild.net/
Our Missing Children: Canada - http://www.ourmissingchildren.ca/
The Polly Klaas Foundation - http://www.pollyklaas.org/
Child CyberSearch Canada - http://www.childcybersearch.org/
New York State Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse - http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/missing/
Child Watch - http://www.childwatch.org
California Missing Children Clearinghouse - http://caag.state.ca.us/bcia2/mups.htm
Missing Children Help Center - http://www.800usakids.org/
Child Search - National Missing Children Center - http://childsearch.org
Child Find of America, Inc. - http://www.childfindofamerica.org
Gabriels Gifts.org - http://www.gabrielsgifts.org
Rino Kids Missing Children Information - http://www.rinokids.com
Find The Kid - http://members.aol.com/findthekid/
30 Ways to Help Prevent a Child Abduction - http://www.brockvillepolice.com/ChildSafety.html
SHG: Missing and Exploit Children - http://www.statehousegirls.net/resources/missing/
Too Old To Be a 'Missing Child' - http://crime.about.com/library/weekly/aa020899.htm
Amber Foundation for Missing Children - http://www.missingchild.org/
Beary Special Kids - http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/9691/bearyspecialkids.html
Missing Children Resources - http://www.vachss.com/help_text/missing_kids.html
Missing Children at Woman's World - http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/9691/missing.html
Child Abduction Resource Center - http://www.missingkid.com/
Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction - http://www.jimmyryce.org
The Andi Foundation for Children - http://www.owassofirstassembly.org/Andi_Foundation.htm
Child Abduction is Child Abuse - http://www.prevent-abuse-now.com/unreport.htm
The Trisha Autry Foundation - http://www.trishaautryfoundation.org
Interstate Association for Stolen Children - http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6042/
Missing Children Investigation Center - http://MCIC.hypermart.net
Child Safety and Abduction Prevention Tips for Parents - http://www.fingerprintamerica.com/parentstips.html
Teen Advocates for Missing Children - http://www.tamc.info/
Canadian Missing Children - http://www.gomcs.org/english/GOMC-canada.htm
Child Alert Foundation - http://abductionalert.hypermart.net/
Amber Alert Now - http://www.amberalertnow.org/
Project Find - http://www.missingchildacc.org
ChildLo.st - http://www.childlo.st/
Missing Children and Endangered Runaways - http://www.angelfire.com/ak/403/page11.html
Fraser Valley Missing Children and Teens - http://www.fraservalleybc.com/missingkids/
Kid Protection Network - http://www.kidprotectionnetwork.org/
Every Second Counts - http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/Missing/Missing.html
Kids Fighting for Kids - http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/prize/226/page1.html
Child Abduction Prevention - http://www.childsid.com/generic.html?pid=38
AbductiondotINFO - http://abduction.info/abduction.htm
The Missing Cloud - http://angel.smartperspective.com/forkids.htm
TheyAreMissing - http://TheyAreMissing.org
India's Missing Children - http://www.kidsmissing.com
Missing Search - http://www.missingsearch.com/
Missing Black Children U.S.A. - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/missingblackchildrenusa
Marsha's Missing Children Page - http://www.geocities.com/mlmjra/mlmjramissingchildren.html?1025262795630
The Committee For Missing Children - http://www.findthekids.org/
Fitzpatrick's Fireplace - http://www.bigriver.net/~rev_dlf
Child Recovery Specialists - http://www.rinokids.com/Resources/child_recovery.html
Laura Recovery Center Foundation - http://www.lrcfoundation.org
Missing Children and Adults - http://crime.about.com/msub38.htm
Phoenix1: Missing Children - http://www.centurytel.net/phoenix1
FBI - Kidnapping and Missing Persons Investigations - http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/kidnap/kidmiss.htm
National Missing Persons Helpline - http://www.missingpersons.org/
Missing Military Personnel - http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/
America's Most Wanted - http://amw.com/
Runaway Children - http://www.wwwsite.com/runaway/
The Nation's Missing Children Organization - http://www.nmco.org/
National Missing Persons Unit - http://www.missingpersons.info.au/
United Kingdom Missing Children Web Site - http://uk.missingkids.com/
Missing Persons Profiles - http://www.mispers.com/
Missing Persons Register - http://missing.personals.net.au/
Child Migrants Trust - http://www.nottscc.gov.uk/child_migrants/index.htm
Child Migrants - http://www.childmigrants.com
Who Me - http://who-me.com/
Reuniting Veteran's Families - http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib15.htm
Missing You - http://www.missing-you.net/
Missing on the Mean Streets - http://www.missingpeople.net
Unclaimed Persons - http://www.unclaimedpersons.com/
Reunite - http://www.reunite.co.uk
Missing Persons Cybercenter - http://hollywoodnetwork.com/hn/mpc/
Gone Missing U.K. - http://www.davemiles.co.uk/
Family Searchers - http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/dakota/187/
Interpol - Missing Children - http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/Missing/
HAPPY
STORIES OUT OF TRAGEDY:
Elizabeth Smart - FOUND
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah ((CNN.com)
Missing teenager Elizabeth Smart, the subject of an intense police hunt since she was reported abducted from her bedroom last summer, was found alive Wednesday in the nearby suburb of Sandy and reunited with her family.
"I don't know what she's gone through and I'm sure she's been through hell," said Elizabeth's father Ed Smart, adding that it was "absolutely wonderful" to have her back with their family.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said 15-year-old Elizabeth "is well and healthy."
"She knows who she is," he said, and police are questioning her about what happened. "She's a very smart, alert lady," Dinse said.
He added, in response to a flurry of questions, "We are convinced she was kidnapped" and held against her will.
Ed Smart said Elizabeth described being taken at knife point. But he said he hasn't asked her for details of her ordeal because he didn't want to traumatize her any more.
The two people -- identified by Dinse as suspects -- are Brian David Mitchell, 49, a drifter and self-described prophet who calls himself "Emmanuel" and did some work in the family's home in November 2001, and Wanda Eileen Barzee, whose relationship to Mitchell was not clear. "America's Most Wanted" described her as Mitchell's wife.
Police were tipped to Emmanuel's whereabouts by two callers who had seen his photograph and knew he was wanted for questioning in Elizabeth's disappearance. The callers said they had seen a man resembling Mitchell walking down a street with two females in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy.
Witness John Ferguson described an older couple "calmly talking to police."
But Sandy Police Chief Steve Chapman said when police officers confronted the couple "they were evasive in some of their answers." After further questioning, police were certain the man was Emmanuel and the girl was Elizabeth. At the time, she was wearing a wig, sunglasses, a blue overcoat and something resembling a veil.
Elizabeth reportedly was moved around
"I don't really feel like I've done any great thing," said Anita Dickerson, one of the callers who tipped off police. "I did not think about any reward. I'm a mother with seven children."No charges have been filed, but U.S. Attorney Paul Warner said those responsible for the girl's disappearance "will be vigorously prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Dinse said police are investigating reports that Mitchell had been seen in San Diego and in Florida since Elizabeth's June 5 abduction.
Smart family spokesman Chris Thomas said, "My understanding is that she camped a fair amount of that time. She also traveled around the country to different places. I believe Ed mentioned San Diego."
He also said that there was no way Elizabeth could have escaped because "she said she had two people with her at all times."
Former U.S. Sen. Jake Garn, a close family friend who participated in searches for Elizabeth, said it's his understanding that immediately following her disappearance, Elizabeth was hidden in the mountains, then taken to San Diego, Atlanta and only recently returned to the Salt Lake City area.
Clusters of yellow and blue balloons floated from trees and railings all through the Smart's upscale in-town neighborhood Wednesday.
Father always believed she was alive
One of the girl's uncles, Chris Smart, said the girl's father, Ed Smart, "was called down to the police station. He wasn't told why. When he found her, when he saw her, he was overcome."Chris Smart broke down in tears as he recounted the story.
Dinse said the family reunion "was emotional. It was exciting, a thrill for everybody." He said Elizabeth was crying and added, "As you can imagine, she was very excited."
In Salt Lake City, people were honking their horns and asking each other, "Have you heard? They found Elizabeth!" according to Garn.
The Smart family never gave up hope during their nine-month ordeal that Elizabeth would be found.
Garn said his wife, Kathleen, saw Ed Smart at church this past Sunday and asked him how he was doing.
"He said, 'I am fine because I still believe Elizabeth is alive,'" Garn said.
The girl's relatives were ecstatic.
"I just had to ask about three times whether it was really true," said Cynthia Smart-Owens, Elizabeth's aunt. "Then I just had to give thanks to God that she was found, that he has answered all the prayers."
Younger sister witnessed abduction
Elizabeth was abducted at gunpoint from her family's 6,600-square-foot Salt Lake City home June 5, 2002, while her parents and four brothers slept. Her younger sister, Mary Katherine, 10, who was in the bedroom with Elizabeth, witnessed the abduction.The younger sister said she pretended to be asleep and later said the kidnapper had threatened to hurt Elizabeth if she didn't keep quiet.
In a February 3 statement, the Smart family said Mary Katherine, who previously said the man who kidnapped her sister had seemed familiar, came to her parents in October 2002 and said, "I think I know who it might be."
She identified the man as a person the family knew as Emmanuel, who had worked at the family home once in November 2001 after they came across him asking for change downtown. The family said he worked at the home for five hours, helping on the roof and raking leaves.
Police later identified him as Mitchell.
After the abduction, police quickly focused on 48-year-old handyman, Richard Ricci, calling him "a possible suspect." He was never charged with kidnapping and died last August 30 from a brain hemorrhage while in the Utah State Prison on lesser charges of burglary relating to the Smart family.
At Wednesday's news conference, Dinse said Ricci had a lot information "pointing at him," but the chief acknowledged it could turn out Ricci had nothing to do with Elizabeth's disappearance.
Ricci's widow, Angela Ricci, asked for her reaction to Wednesday's development in the case, told reporters, "I'm grateful that she's alive."
She said her husband told her, "I had nothing to do with this ... I can't believe that they think I did this."
She said, "I'll always stand by him and I always have."
Bret Michael Edmunds, a 26-year-old drifter, was also once a focus of the investigation. He was questioned by police in a West Virginia hospital. No police action resulted.
Erica Pratt
PHILADELPHIA (AP - USA TODAY) — Two men sought in the kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl who escaped from her captors were arrested early Thursday, police said. James Burns, 29, and Edward Johnson, 23, were arrested around 5:30 a.m. in southwest Philadelphia, not far from where Erica Pratt was abducted Monday night while playing with her 5-year-old sister in front of their grandmother's rowhouse, police said.
Erica had escaped Tuesday after she gnawed her way through the duct tape that bound her, authorities had said.
Burns and Johnson were being treated for scrapes suffered when they tried to elude police in a foot chase, authorities said.
Officers had said the men live near some members of Erica's family and were known to the family. They said the men's names were provided by two witnesses to the kidnapping.
Police have said the girl's grandmother and primary caregiver, Barbara Pratt, received at least six calls from a man who threatened to kill the girl unless he received a $150,000 ransom.
Neighbors said there had been a rumor in the neighborhood that her family had recently come into a lot of money.
Whatever the motive, the plot was foiled with the girl's escape. Police said the "brave little girl" chewed through tape binding her hands, and broke out of the locked basement in an abandoned home where she had been held for almost 24 hours. The girl was back at home Wednesday, appearing no worse the wear.
The Pratts are far from wealthy, family and neighbors said. Their small blue-and-white brick rowhouse sits on a block peppered with abandoned buildings. Erica's mother, Serena Gillis, had her as a teen-ager and gave her up to be raised by her grandmother.
"There's not $150,000 in this whole neighborhood," said Mannwell Glenn, a family friend who has been acting as their spokesman.
Just about everyone on the street had heard stories the family might have come into money. Some said the girl's uncle had died, leaving behind a lucrative life insurance policy. Others said a relative who owned a record label had just signed a contract with Death Row Records, a major rap label.
One of the girl's uncles, Joseph Pratt Jr., was shot dead in his car in March. But family members said there was no life insurance.
Another uncle, Derrick Pratt, is the chief executive of an independent rap record label, CP Entertainment, and had briefly been in talks with Death Row — but no deal and no financial windfall was in the works, Glenn said.
Police said Erica had only a can of water during her ordeal, and the officers who found her gave her part of a chicken sandwich.
She was bound with duct tape around her arms, legs and eyes and left in the dirty basement of a building 10 miles from home. She was able to chew through the tape, break through the basement door and go up to the first floor. Unable to escape, she smashed a window and called out for help to some children playing in front of the abandoned house.
The children pulled Erica out of the window, and one of them rode their bike to alert the police.
"She's an amazing little girl," Chief Inspector Robert Davis said.
Jacqueline Marris and Tamera Brooks
LANCASTER, California (CNN) -- The man who abducted two teenage girls at gunpoint early Thursday was "hunting for a place to kill them" in a remote desert spot about 100 miles away when two deputies located him and fatally shot him, authorities said.
"He was hunting for a place to kill them and bury them. We probably saved them by 10 minutes," Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks told CNN. "He was parked. He had found the spot when the deputies rolled up."
Authorities identified the suspect as Roy Ratliff, who was already wanted on rape charges in Kern County, which is northeast of Los Angeles. Ratliff was a resident of Rosamond in the county.
Sparks said Ratliff raped the two girls -- aged 16 and 17 -- and "there wasn't anything left to do" but to kill them in the isolated desert stretch near Lake Isabella, about 100 miles north of where they were abducted.
When the two deputies arrived, Ratliff fired a shot out the back window of the white Ford Bronco he had carjacked hours earlier. The two girls were in the back of the Bronco, their bodies partially taped, Sparks said.
One deputy remained at the back of the vehicle, while the other approached the driver's side.
"The suspect had showed them a gun and said, 'No way, no way,'" Sparks said. "The deputy in the back shot five times, the deputy on the driver's side shot four times.
"The deputy in the back went in grabbed the girls, he's pulling them out the back. The deputy on the driver's side looked in, the suspect was coming back up with the gun and [the deputy] shot him twice in the head. And shot him until he stopped."
The ordeal ended at 12:51 p.m.
"We don't have to worry about him being rehabilitated," Sparks said of Ratliff. "We don't have to worry about the Supreme Court. He is deceased."
Helicopters flew over area
Sparks said three helicopters had flown over the area after being tipped off by an animal control officer that he had seen the vehicle. He said he was sure Ratliff had seen the helicopters and decided, "I got to get rid of these girls."The sheriff said the two girls have a long road ahead of them.
"I don't know that they will ever be the same. They were very thankful that they are alive, but they've got a lot of things to work out," Sparks said.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said, "Our hearts are with them. It's an awful thing to go through. Rape survivors often have to live with a lifetime of trauma and trouble, and we hope they will be OK."
Roy Ratliff
Both girls were taken to Kern Medical Center on Thursday afternoon, where they were evaluated and released several hours later, said Peter Bryan, the hospital's CEO."They are both in good medical condition given the ordeal that they went through," Bryan said.
The parents of the teens were relieved and overwhelmed.
"I just want to thank everyone who helped us in finding the girls," said the mother of one of the girls.
The father of the other girl had a big grin when he told reporters, "Thank God the kids are OK and they're coming home."
'He told me he was going to kill me'
The girls had been in separate vehicles with male friends at a popular "lovers' lane" in Los Angeles County when they were kidnapped at gunpoint shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, police said.Authorities said the Bronco was the only vehicle in the parking lot when the suspect arrived in a stolen Saturn at the Quartz Hill water tower -- popular with teens because of its seclusion and sweeping views of the valley.
The Bronco belonged to Joshua Brown, a friend of one of the girls, according to Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy Brian Lendman. The Saturn was reported stolen in a carjacking in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Brown, who said he turned 18 Thursday, said that moments after he heard a car pull into the parking lot, the suspect was at his window with a semiautomatic handgun.
"He told me to give him all my money," he said. "I thought he was going to kill us."
The suspect left the girl in the truck, he said, warning her to keep her head down, tied Brown to a pole and blindfolded him. The man pointed a gun to the back of Brown's head, the young man told investigators.
"He told me he was going to kill me, but he didn't want to," he said. "He actually just wanted to tie me up. He wanted the truck. ... It sounded like he was trying to decide if he was going to kill me or not."
As the suspect was preparing to leave, Brown said, he heard another car pull into the parking lot, apparently the second girl and her companion.
The companion, who identified himself as Frank, said the suspect first tried to tape the two teenagers together in the car.
But when that didn't work, he taped Frank to his car seat and steering wheel and left with both girls in the Bronco.
One of the young men worked himself free and ran down the hill to a pay phone, said Capt. Tom Pigott of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Pigott said the suspect doused the Saturn in gasoline or some other flammable liquid, apparently intending to set fire to it, "but for some reason elected not to do that."
Nicholas Michael Farber
SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- A 9-year-old boy kidnapped from his father's California home Wednesday amid a custody dispute was found unharmed Friday afternoon with his mother and an unidentified man, both of whom were taken into custody.
Police found Nicholas Farber and the two adults at a motor home park outside San Diego after a two-day search, authorities said. The boy's mother, Debra Rose, and the man taken into custody with her are suspects in the abduction, officials said.
"Obviously, we are elated that Nicholas is safe," said Riverside County Sheriff-elect Bob Doyle.
Nicholas was reunited with his father Friday night. His mother was charged with one count of felony child abduction and was being held on $1 million bond at the Indio Jail in Riverside County, police said.
Asked why she took Nicholas, Rose, being led into a police car in handcuffs, replied, "He's my son. He was taken from me."
Investigators in Riverside County had said earlier the adults could be traveling with the boy in a tan Fleetwood Bounder motor home with a Florida license plate. A caller from the motor home park in Jamul, California, near the Mexican border, tipped police off to the vehicle's whereabouts early Friday afternoon, Doyle said.
Once police learned the boy and the two adults were at the motor home park, several sheriff's deputies and state Highway Patrol officers surrounded the vehicle.
"At 12:55 [p.m.], we were able to take Nicholas into our custody and arrest two individuals, Debra Rose and the male suspect," Doyle said.
Rose had cut and dyed both her hair and her son's hair.
Friday evening, police were searching for three more people, sources said. One of them is Carla Bender, Rose's roommate in Colorado, who is a suspect in the case; the two others are unidentified men who may have broken into Nicholas' home and abducted him.
Authorities are also talking to five other people who are either Rose's relatives or friends, sources said. Police believe all of them had some role in the kidnapping scheme by providing money or helping the kidnappers acquire weapons, the sources said.
Nicholas has been at the center of a custody dispute between Rose and her ex-husband, Michael Farber. Early Wednesday, two armed men smashed a door at the father's Palm Desert, California, home, assaulted the elder Farber, and fled with the boy.
The two men took Nicholas in a white SUV, possibly a GMC Yukon, Farber told police. Later, police said they were looking for a gray GMC pickup truck with a temporary Colorado license plate. Rose, a resident of Colorado, had recently bought a similar truck.
The boy's mother, Debra Rose, is a suspect in the abduction, officials said.
The truck was later found in Nevada near the California state line.A California judge granted Farber temporary custody of the boy last week pending a hearing on Farber's request for permanent custody. Farber alleged in court documents his ex-wife is a drug addict incapable of caring for their son, and said he believed Nicholas would be in danger in his mother's custody.
Rose is also involved in a custody dispute with another ex-husband in Colorado, and on Thursday failed to appear in court for a hearing on restraining orders the two have filed against each other.
Rose has been married five times. Farber was her third husband.
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