The California Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of a pimp convicted of burning one of his prostitutes to death. Justices ruled today that jurors were improperly instructed on a special circumstance allegation of kidnapping. more ›

A woman was allegedly pushed from a moving vehicle on the Harbor (110) Freeway Wednesday night during a kidnapping attempt. Officers discovered the car post-crash and the female passenger near Third Street. California Highway Patrol reported, "Preliminary investigation indicates that the male driver pushed her from the vehicle as it was moving." more ›

A San Luis Obispo County kidnapping victim has been released from the hospital following treatment for injuries he says he sustained while he was held for several days inside a home and tortured with a hammer and fork. The victim contacted local authorities following his escape from the home in the community of California Valley on Friday, November 11. more ›

A six-year-old Monrovia boy claiming he was kidnapped Sunday could be responsible for a serious hoax, and now authorities say the child was "not truthful" with his case's investigators, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. more ›

A 6-year-old boy escaped from the clutches of a man who kidnapped him out of his backyard yesterday by biting his hand, according to sheriff's deputies. The man put his hand over the boy's mouth to keep him from screaming, but the boy bit him and ran back home. more ›

A local boot camp instructor on trial for kidnapping, child abuse, extortion and more used disturbing methods for disciplining troubled children in his program. Videos show kids at the boot camp led by Kelvin McFarland aka "Sgt. Mac" being forced to drink until they puke — and then being forced to drink some more. Another video shows a child in tears being screamed at to carry a tire — the child also nearly pukes. more ›

The owner of O My Yogurt in Alhambra has been accused of knocking out his employee, removing her clothes, binding her with tape and stuffing her in a soundproof box in a storage room, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The victim was able to escape from her bondage and call the police on her boss and alleged attacker Robert Yachen Lee, 37, of Walnut. more ›

Despite being literally caught with his pants down, a man who was found naked in his apartment with an also-naked 4-year-old girl has plead not guilty to molesting the child, reports KTLA. The girl was found by her father after she went missing from her yard, and was then seen banging on the suspect's window and screaming for help. more ›

A 4-year-old girl was playing in her yard in Redlands last night when she suddenly went missing. When her father began walking around looking for her, he allegedly discovered a father's worst nightmare: she was naked, screaming and banging on the window of an apartment where authorities believe she had been kidnapped and molested, reports ABC7. more ›

A man and woman from Long Beach are in custody after being accused of kidnapping another woman, assaulting her and trying to force her to become a prostitute, reports the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Edward Bell, 28, allegedly kidnapped the woman, whose name isn't being released, on Thursday. After assaulting her, he and accomplice Octavia Howard, also 28, drove their victim to San Bernadino where they dropped her off on the grounds that she was to attempt prostitution. more ›

A15-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital by Paramedics early Saturday morning after she reportedly broke free from a kidnapper's car and began screaming in a South Los Angeles neighborhood, says KTLA. According to police, the girl says she was kidnapped sometime after midnight on Saturday in Long Beach. more ›

In a surprise turn, convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido plead not guilty to the kidnapping and rape of Jaycee Dugard in a California court today. According to the Daily News, Garrido was expected to plead guilty to charges alleging that he abducted Dugard off the street in 1991, then held her against her will for almost twenty years. While in captivity, Dugard gave birth at age 14 and again at age 17. more ›

A man suspected of kidnapping a three-year-old girl was shot and killed in Montebello after being chased by police, reports KTLA. The man, who has yet to be identified, was followed by police around several residential neighborhoods after they were tipped off to a possible kidnapping. He then got out of his car near the 5 freeway with the child still in the backseat, and "appeared to be holding something in his right hand," according to KTLA. more ›

Thanks to almost a dozen Metro Green Line passengers, a teenage girl was able to evade an attempted kidnapping from the South Avalon station platform yesterday. The incident took place at shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, says the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Transit Services South Bureau, and a suspect was detained soon after at the Imperial Wilmington Blue Line. The victim, however, has not contacted the authorities. more ›

Phillip and Nancy Garrido of northern California confessed today to the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was 11 at the time of her abduction. The LA Times reports that the two admitted to snatching Dugard from the street and holding her captive for 18 years. Phillip is charged with raping Dugard on multiple occasions, and is known to be the father of her two children. more ›

The LAPD are investigating an incident involving a brief kidnapping and an ATM robbery reported in the vicinity of Pico Boulevard and Bronson Avenue on January 11th. The victim, a woman who was parking in a dim-lit covered garage, was approached by a man who covered her mouth, entered her vehicle, and led her to believe he had a gun. He forced her to drive to an ATM and take out money, then drop him off near Normandie Boulevard and 30th Street. more ›

It worked for the Grim Sleeper, and now the FBI is turning once again to some big ad space in Los Angeles to help them apprehend Joe Luis Saenz, one of their "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives." A billboard was made visible yesterday near the intersection of Cesar Chavez and Soto Avenues, with information for contacting authorities regarding Saenz. more ›

An 11-year-old boy was the victim of an attempted kidnapping in Chinatown on December 14th, and thanks to his quick thinking and good memory, the LAPD have released a composite sketch of the suspect. The boy was accosted near a popular youth sports and recreation park on Yale Street. He pulled away after the suspect grabbed him, and was able to fight him off. The LAPD say their suspect "is Black with a small growth of beard under his chin, and was wearing do-rag on his head," and was dirty; he could be living on the street in the area. "The suspect is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, about 135 pounds, and in his late twenties to early thirties." more ›

According to an LASD newsroom release, "A 30-year old Chatsworth man is in custody in Santa Clarita after stabbing his mother multiple times; carjacking a car from a second woman, assaulting her and kidnapping her 4-year old son, then crashing the carjacked car; stealing a deputy’s car when he rushed to rescue the child; driving off a 100’ embankment and crashing and burning the deputy’s radio car; then trying to pull the shotgun from the burning patrol car; and fighting with and biting deputies who arrested him." more ›

A delivery truck person is missing after two men impersonating police approached the driver, according to the LAPD. The driver and the truck, which was carrying "controlled substances" (most likely pharmaceuticals) are still outstanding. more ›

22-year-old Nancy Salas was sentenced yesterday to three years of probation and "an order for 100 hours of community service," according to abc7. Salas, of Glendale, concocted a kidnapping hoax in May in order to distract her parents from learning she had been lying about being enrolled at UCLA and prepping to graduate. The search for Salas engaged her family and the Glendale PD before Salas showed up in Merced, claiming she'd been snatched. Her story soon unraveled, and while the Glendale police did not press charges, authorities in Merced slapped her with a charge for filing a false report. more ›

Nancy Salas, the 22-year-old Glendale woman who faked her own kidnapping, is scheduled to be arraigned today in Merced County Superior Court, according to LA Now. Salas faces a misdemeanor count for filing a false police report. Less than 24 hours after the UCLA dropout had led her family and friends to believe she had disappeared during her morning neighborhood jog, Salas entered a Merced carpeting store and claimed she'd been the victim of a kidnapping. She contacted the authorities, who eventually facilitated her reunion with her family. more ›

A 22-year-old Glendale woman is now facing a misdemeanor charge for the kidnapping hoax that tied up local police during the extensive search and wound up in Merced, where she fled during the staged incident. more ›

Authorities in Merced are considering reversing their initial decision to decline to file charges against 22-year-old Glendale resident Nancy Salas, reports the News-Press. Salas, who faked her own disappearance last week, contacted the Merced Police Department from a carpet store and claimed she'd been kidnapped, and did not reveal her story to be a hoax until she was escorted home by members of the Glendale Police Department. more ›

Friends and family of Nancy Salas were outraged when the Glendale Police Department revealed that 22-year-old was not actually a 5th year UCLA senior, and suggested the young woman had perhaps disappeared on Wednesday May 12th of her own accord. more ›

When Nancy Salas suspiciously made herself disappear on Wednesday, prompting a police search, she probably didn't expect a galore of media attention. What was first a Glendale police investigation into a UCLA student who went for a run and never came back soon turned into an investigation that revealed deception -- she was no longer a student. Finally, on Thursday afternoon, the 22-year-old was found in Merced, a few hours north of the Los Angeles area. Now the reason why she did it is out: she "invented a kidnapping hoax to avoid telling her parents that she had been lying to them about college," according to the LA Times. more ›

A man who is suspected of kidnapping and shooting a woman in Long Beach this morning, leaving her body in a parking structure, was shot during a standoff in front of a San Fernando Valley Best Buy a few hours later. more ›

Last summer when 24-year-old Sylvia Mardini made headlines, all we knew was that went off to do some errands and didn't return home. The next day her family received text messages indicating that she was being kidnapped at gunpoint and was in Utah, prompting the LAPD and FBI's involvement in the case. Many news outlets, including LAist, reported on the story. more ›

When José Maldonado exited his parked car Monday afternoon, knife in hand and a t-shirt partially cover his face, to try to kidnap an juvenile girl walking home, he probably didn't expect her to fight back. He also probably didn't realize her father was down the street running towards them. So he stopped and drove away before anything serious happened. more ›