Teh One Who Knocks
11-29-2011, 12:01 PM
By Dan Scanlan - Florida Times Union
A dispute over a paid sexual encounter Thanksgiving Day in Volusia County led to a baby being kidnapped and abandoned in a field overnight, authorities said.
One-year-old Lupita Gonzalez was found alive at 3:20 p.m. Friday under a bush in a field in Seville five miles south of Crescent City after a 10-hour search.
Carlos Rivera, 23, of Crescent City is charged with kidnapping, child abuse and being an illegal alien, according to the Volusia corrections department. The baby’s mother, 30-year-old Leah Wiley of Astor, is also jailed on a charge of child neglect.
The child had been missing about 32 hours. This case was “about as bizarre as it gets,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Gary Davidson.
“It is hard not to think about what this child must have been through out in a field on her own in the elements,” Davidson said. “The temperature got a bit cool that evening, and it breaks your heart to think what that child must have gone through.”
Rivera was at a Thursday night party at a home on Lawrence Street in Seville, and so was Wiley and her child. Rivera is accused of paying Wiley to have sex with him but got mad when she was called to another room before they were done. He grabbed her daughter and left at 7 a.m. Friday, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Rivera walked along U.S. 17 until he got worried that he might get in trouble, so he abandoned the girl in a field and hitched a ride to Putnam County, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Just before 5 a.m. Saturday, he called the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office to report the girl missing.
At first, Rivera was vague and confused, Davidson said.
“He said he had left the party with the child and was impaired and blacked out and couldn’t remember where he left the child,” the sheriff’s spokesman said.
Bloodhounds and a helicopter helped ground units in the search, but the child wasn’t found until Rivera drew a map and searchers focused on an area about two miles away from Lawrence Street. Davidson said it was relieving to find her in such good condition. She was hospitalized with dehydration and insect bites.
Wiley was charged with child neglect after failing to report her missing daughter to authorities, the Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators said she suspected Rivera had taken the girl but didn’t want the child’s father to find out she had sex with him.
Rivera also is being charged on Putnam County warrants for failure to appear in court on charges of grand theft, DUI and driving without a license.
The Florida Department of Children and Families has custody of the child and Wiley’s two other children.
A dispute over a paid sexual encounter Thanksgiving Day in Volusia County led to a baby being kidnapped and abandoned in a field overnight, authorities said.
One-year-old Lupita Gonzalez was found alive at 3:20 p.m. Friday under a bush in a field in Seville five miles south of Crescent City after a 10-hour search.
Carlos Rivera, 23, of Crescent City is charged with kidnapping, child abuse and being an illegal alien, according to the Volusia corrections department. The baby’s mother, 30-year-old Leah Wiley of Astor, is also jailed on a charge of child neglect.
The child had been missing about 32 hours. This case was “about as bizarre as it gets,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Gary Davidson.
“It is hard not to think about what this child must have been through out in a field on her own in the elements,” Davidson said. “The temperature got a bit cool that evening, and it breaks your heart to think what that child must have gone through.”
Rivera was at a Thursday night party at a home on Lawrence Street in Seville, and so was Wiley and her child. Rivera is accused of paying Wiley to have sex with him but got mad when she was called to another room before they were done. He grabbed her daughter and left at 7 a.m. Friday, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Rivera walked along U.S. 17 until he got worried that he might get in trouble, so he abandoned the girl in a field and hitched a ride to Putnam County, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Just before 5 a.m. Saturday, he called the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office to report the girl missing.
At first, Rivera was vague and confused, Davidson said.
“He said he had left the party with the child and was impaired and blacked out and couldn’t remember where he left the child,” the sheriff’s spokesman said.
Bloodhounds and a helicopter helped ground units in the search, but the child wasn’t found until Rivera drew a map and searchers focused on an area about two miles away from Lawrence Street. Davidson said it was relieving to find her in such good condition. She was hospitalized with dehydration and insect bites.
Wiley was charged with child neglect after failing to report her missing daughter to authorities, the Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators said she suspected Rivera had taken the girl but didn’t want the child’s father to find out she had sex with him.
Rivera also is being charged on Putnam County warrants for failure to appear in court on charges of grand theft, DUI and driving without a license.
The Florida Department of Children and Families has custody of the child and Wiley’s two other children.