Police Ask Public’s Help in Hunt for Woman’s Captor

Police issued an urgent appeal to the public Friday for any information about a man suspected of enslaving a woman inside a camper for 14 months, raping and torturing her and forcing her to cook and clean.

For more than a year, police say, the man traveled throughout Los Angeles in an old, white-and-beige Ford camper truck with five children and two other women. The women allegedly beat the victim and may be accomplices, police said.

‘Extremely Traumatized’

On Sept. 2 the victim, a 27-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, freed herself and fled to police. She has been unable to provide enough clues to lead police to her alleged captor.

The victim, whom police describe as “extremely traumatized,” also was unable to provide other vital clues--such as her captor’s identity and where the camper had parked throughout the ordeal.

So police Friday turned to the public for help.

“We hope people who recognize the camper or the man will come forward,” Detective Delia Perez said.

Police have sent composite drawings of the man and one of the women and a description of the camper to law enforcement authorities throughout the western United States. The victim has not been able to give a detailed enough description of the other woman to develop a composite.

Considered Dangerous

Merchants at two convenience stores near an alley where the camper was parked for months recognized a police composite drawing of the man because of his frequent stops to buy liquor.

The man is between 40 and 44 years old, with black hair and brown eyes, and has used at least four aliases. He has an extensive gun collection and is considered dangerous.

One woman is about 38 years old with shoulder-length brown hair. The third woman is short and chubby and is about five months pregnant. The children--three boys and two girls--are between 2 and 10 years old.

The victim told police she was lured into the camper with the promise of a job in July, 1988. Once inside, the man gagged and handcuffed her, police said. She was kept under constant watch and the man threatened to kill her if she attempted to escape, she told police.

Throughout the 14 months she was held captive, the victim “pretty much felt she would never get away and would eventually be killed,” Perez said.

From January until at least Sept. 2, the camper was parked most of the time in a secluded dirt alley behind the 4200 block of South Broadway.

Camped in Alleys

Before January, the group had set up alley encampments in the Pico-Union District and the El Sereno area, the victim told police.

On Friday, residents and shop-keepers along Broadway, who for months had known of the back alley encampment and had given food and clothing to the group, were shocked at reports that a woman had been chained inside.

Neighbors said they believed the man when he told them he was a poor transient immigrant, struggling to provide food and clothing for his large family. They said the group kept to themselves most of the time.

A worker at a nearby community center said he did not even know there was more than one woman with the man. He was clearly shocked when told by reporters about the victim’s allegations of rape and torture 30 feet from the center.

“I had no idea, no idea,” said Ben Joseph, associate director of St. Martin de Pores Catholic Community Center. “As far as I was concerned they were a family on hard times. He seemed like a guy who had problems and was trying to do something about it.”