Rape-Kidnaping Case Could Collapse as Alleged Victim Vanishes Again

A sexual kidnaping case is in jeopardy because the alleged victim, a prostitute who had been unidentified and missing for months before signing a complaint against a Burbank man two weeks ago, is missing again.

Police and prosecutors had hoped that the 23-year-old woman would testify Friday at a preliminary hearing for Paul David Sanchez. But authorities have not been able to locate the woman for two weeks, according to Glendale Detective Ruth Feldman.

The hearing in Pasadena Municipal Court was continued until Monday. If the woman is not found by then, the case probably will be dismissed, both the prosecutor and defense attorney said.

Sanchez, 40, is charged with picking up the prostitute in Hollywood on July 14, handcuffing her and repeatedly raping her at knifepoint and gunpoint over a 15-hour period. Witnesses claim to have seen a handcuffed and partly nude woman trying to escape from Sanchez’s van.

The case is considered extremely unusual because Sanchez was originally ordered to stand trial for kidnaping a “Jane Doe” on the strength of the eyewitness testimony, even though the alleged victim was neither identified nor located at the time. Sanchez admitted pushing the woman back into the van and driving her to Griffith Park but said he dropped her off there unharmed. He said she was a prostitute whom he was helping through drug withdrawal.

Sanchez also faces trial Feb. 20 for the alleged abduction and rape of another prostitute. The woman, 26, who reportedly escaped from his van on San Fernando Road near the Glendale factory on July 5, agreed to testify against him.

Meanwhile, for months, police looked for a prostitute who fit the missing 23-year-old’s description. She was finally found after a friend read a newspaper article about the case and called authorities.

The missing woman recently was a patient at a drug rehabilitation program. Officials at the program and the woman’s relatives said they did not know her whereabouts this week, according to Feldman.

Feldman said she doesn’t think the woman has changed her mind about testifying or has been harmed.

“She was very cooperative the last time I talked to her. I think she’s around,” Feldman said.

However, Paul David Sanchez’s attorney, Louis Sanchez, who is unrelated, said he never expected the woman to appear in court. The attorney claimed that the woman agreed to have sex with his client, describing her as a “stone heroin addict” who was pressured by police to sign the complaint.

Paul David Sanchez has pleaded not guilty on all counts in both cases. The charges include kidnaping, false imprisonment, rape and oral copulation. He is free on $300,000 bail.