A bizarre story from Houston, Texas ended with the return of a taken 6-year-old and the arrest of the alleged kidnapper at the hospital where his wife had just given birth.
On Wednesday, a mother and her 6-year-old daughter pulled into a parking garage at their apartment complex. As the mom unloaded the vehicle, the child went to look at ice frozen on a fence inside the garage. At this time, police say that 23-year-old Joaquin Ramos pulled up in an SUV, got out of his vehicle and approached the young girl.
She tried to run but Ramos grabbed her and forced her into the back seat of his vehicle. He got behind the wheel again and took off from the scene. When the girl’s mother noticed what was transpiring, she at first tried to run after the vehicle unsuccessfully. She then got in her car and gave chase but eventually lost sight of Ramos’ Jeep Cherokee.
About an hour later Ramos pulled into an area Target with the abducted child. While inside the store, Ramos told the child that he had to use the restroom and asked her to do the same. As she was in the women’s room, she alerted a stranger to the fact that she had been kidnapped. This customer immediately informed a store manager who retrieved the girl safely from the restroom.
Thankfully, it’s being reported that the girl was unharmed. She was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital as a precaution and is now back at home safe and sound.
Police released surveillance footage from the Target to the public in hopes of identifying Ramos. Members of Ramos’ family recognized him and contacted the police to let them know who it was they were looking for. It turns out that he was at an area hospital where his wife had just given birth to the couple’s 4th child. He was apprehended on Thursday at Memorial Hermann Hospital.
Police say that Ramos has confessed to the crime.
The girl’s aunt, Marlene Fernandez, didn’t mince words when she was interviewed by KHOU 11:
“I don’t know, I guess he is just maybe a pervert. But why would you have a pervert and the lady living with him has kids. Why would you let a pervert live with you if you have kids with you? What were his plans? But you know what, now that he’s caught, he’s going to know what they do to guys in jail like him. So he’s going to pay for what he was trying to do or what he did to other little girls that we do not know about. And he’s going to pay in jail because we already know what they do to guys like that in jail.”
All of this transpired only a few months after the girl’s father was killed in a wood shredder accident.
Police added that Ramos lived in the same apartment complex as his victim but said he did not know the child or her mother.
