Woman freed for taking photos during kidnapping: she was raped, drugged and kidnapped

This story is shocking not only for the crime itself, but also for the keys to solving it, which should be studied in police academies. The outcome is that a woman passing through Madrid was freed from the apartment where she had been held, drugged by her own cousin-in-law and sexually assaulted ; the two detainees had intended to lure her into a prostitution ring. The outcome took place in Moratalaz on Monday night.

It all began at eight in the evening, when a Madrid Municipal Police patrol was traveling along the Villaverde-Vallecas highway. A citizen stopped them in the street: "Officers, I'm talking to a friend who lives in Tenerife, and he tells me his wife is traveling from Colombia to the Canary Islands and has stopped in Madrid to meet up again; she was going to spend the night at a cousin's house. She called him to warn him that she was kidnapped and forced to drink a large amount of alcohol laced with some substance." According to her account, the victim told him: "They threw something at me, because I woke up in an apartment and I don't even know where I am. I feel threatened by your cousin and some Colombian men who may have guns."

The officers spoke with the husband, who explained that he suspected they were trying to force her into prostitution and that she seemed very dazed. He also provided some photos that María (not her real name), 37, had taken with her cell phone on the way from meeting the husband's cousin to the time when, with a man, they forced her into a car to take her home. Since she was already feeling ill, she became suspicious and took snapshots of the street. She then took more photos from the home itself and explained what she saw outside to her partner, hoping to find any clues about the cityscape that might clarify her whereabouts.

One of the municipal police officers from Villa de Vallecas recognized the area: it seemed like a neighborhood close to the police complex on Tacona Street, in Moratalaz. So they contacted their colleagues at the Comprehensive Police Station in that district, who confirmed their intuition.

They then checked the official address of the cousin, Jendry, 33, also Colombian, but it wasn't in Moratalaz. So they checked her phone number, which the victim's partner had provided. It was registered in the name of a man, her boyfriend, whom they looked up in the municipal register: indeed, she lived in an apartment on Encomienda de Palacios Street, which connects with Tacona Street.

Municipal police from Villa de Vallecas and Moratalaz, along with another call from the National Police of that district, whose police station is located there, arrived at the home. They knocked on the door, and Jendry opened it. She was accompanied by Vicente, a 53-year-old Spaniard. María was also present. She was being held captive, with her belt open, her blouse buttons undone, and her shoelaces undone.

They took her out onto the landing, and she explained to the officers: "That man tried to take off my clothes, but I resisted. But they gave me a drink, and I started to feel sick. He started touching my vagina and biting my breasts. My husband's cousin didn't do anything to stop him." Jendry claimed that Vicente wasn't her partner, who was actually in Málaga for work. He didn't say anything. The hostage was taken to the Gregorio Marañón Hospital to undergo the corresponding protocol.

Both suspects were arrested and taken to the police station: he was charged with unlawful detention and Jendry was charged with cooperating, which legally equates her with criminal liability. She allegedly served as bait to capture Jendry. Furthermore, the Family and Women's Care Unit (UFAM) of the Madrid Police Headquarters is investigating the case as a suspected sexual assault involving chemical submission.