Illegal alien suspect in kidnapping faces three murder counts after previously being deported

The investigation started when an injured 12-year-old girl was found wandering down a road

Published: August 7, 2022 12:35pm

Updated: August 7, 2022 1:50pm

An illegal immigrant who was previously deported from the United States is now a suspect in the kidnapping of a 12-year-old girl and faces three capital murder charges in Alabama.

Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett confirmed that Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes, 37, was arrested last week and is being held on three murder charges, local outlet WSFA reported.

Pascual-Reyes was deported in 2014 and is now illegally in the United States, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told The Daily Caller.

The investigation started when an injured 12-year-old girl was found wandering down a road near Dadeville, Ala., last week. Court filings show she had been tied to bedposts, assaulted and drugged for nearly a week before she chewed through her restraints to escape. Law enforcement searched Pascual-Reyes' home and found two decomposing bodies.

The bodies found in the Alabama home have been identified as the girl's 14-year-old brother and her 29-year-old mother, Sandra Vazquez Ceja, who was Pascual-Reyes' girlfriend.

"I have said she is our hero," Sheriff Abbett told PEOPLE. "Hero can be described in many words but you take a 12-year-old who had been restrained and was able to free herself and get to law enforcement and we were able to arrest an individual we feel caused the death of these other two. She is a hero in anybody's mind."

The Facts Inside Our Reporter's Notebook

Links

Unlock unlimited access

  • No Ads Within Stories
  • No Autoplay Videos
  • VIP access to exclusive Just the News newsmaker events hosted by John Solomon and his team.
  • Support the investigative reporting and honest news presentation you've come to enjoy from Just the News.
  • Just the News Spotlight

    Support Just the News