Girl found alive two days after kidnapping

Published 12:00 am Monday, June 9, 2003

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Two days after an intruder brazenly kidnapped her from her home, a 9-year-old girl walked into a convenience store less than 30 miles away ''crying and scared,'' according to police and the store owner.

Jennette Tamayo had been dropped off in the East Palo Alto area late Sunday night, a San Jose police spokeswoman said. No arrests have been made; police have not said whether a suspect has been identified.

Details of Jennette's condition were not available, but she walked out of an East Palo Alto police station about two hours later and got into a waiting car, where she smiled briefly at television cameras. It was not clear where she was taken or whether she had been reunited with her family.

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Police said the suspect, who was a stranger to the family, had staked out the girl's house Friday and waited for her to come home from school. Before he left, Jennette's mother and teenage brother arrived home and encountered the man, who beat them before he sped away.

Much of the ordeal was caught by a neighbor's video surveillance camera. Released before Jennette's discovery Sunday, the tape contains several brutal images and sounds.

About 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Jennette walked into the Eastside Market, said Isa Yasin, the owner of the shop. Yasin said he did not see anyone drop off the girl and could not tell if she had been harmed.

''She was crying and scared,'' Yasin said.

After talking briefly with the girl, Yasin realized her identity and called police.

In Jennette's neighborhood, residents poured into the streets Sunday night to hug and celebrate as the news of her discovery spread.

''It was just like a Hollywood script,'' said neighbor Karen Kamfolt. ''People came from all directions out of their houses.''

''It's a wonderful ending to a horrible nightmare,'' said Kamfolt, whose surveillance cameras recorded the kidnapping as it unfolded Friday afternoon.

The videotape showed a man pulling up in front of Tamayo's home Friday afternoon and going inside. Police aren't sure how he was able to enter, but they believe he may have used a broken rear window.

After approximately 25 minutes inside, the suspect is seen returning to wait in the car. Around him, neighbors carry out their daily activities, like playing basketball and bringing children home from school.

At one point another car drives past, then backs up and lingers next to the suspect's car. Police said they were looking for the driver of that car but have no information on who it might be.