A strange story has unfolded tonight, concerning a 16-year-old student, Jessica Maricela Acosta, reported missing last Tuesday, November 25, by her grandmother, Audelia, after she failed to return home from the school she attends, St. Catherine Academy (SCA) in Belize City.
Acosta, a first form student and the eldest of four children, contacted her family on Friday afternoon, November 28, tearfully alleging that she had been kidnapped and held against her will somewhere in Belize.
Late tonight, however, as we were going to press, we received a call from her mother, Romelia Mai, who told us that Jessica had been found in Cotton Tree, Cayo District, and was in “good condition.”
When we attempted, however, to elicit more information as to how the girl was found, and where exactly she found and with whom she was found, the mother clammed up, only repeating that her daughter was on her way home and was “OK.”
Sources close to Amandala have indicated that Acosta claimed she had been chained up inside a wooden house somewhere, and was unable to escape. The family has verified that the cell phone call they received was from Jessica’s cell phone.
Belize City police spoke to Acosta’s family around 6:00 on November 30, in connection with the report. The family had told them that according to Acosta, two men, wearing masks, attacked her on the Swing Bridge on her way to school, placing a cloth on her face that had a substance that caused her to black out.
The men then took her to her prison, where she remained until the time of her rescue.
Jessica’s mother told Amandala earlier tonight that when she last spoke to her daughter, she was crying, begging her to come and find her and take her home. She is a good girl, with no romantic interests and no history of running away, and would not have done this deliberately to her family, the mother added.
The family said that they received a text message 24 hours before Jessica’s call, warning them not to call her cell phone, which they had been doing since she went missing, or else either the girl, or a friend of the family who assists the girl through school and is familiar with her, would be killed. However, there is no indication if Jessica was forced to make this call herself, or if the kidnappers did it for her.
Today, however, Mai said that she sent a text message to her daughter’s phone around 4:30 this evening, hoping that she would get it.
Our source says that at the time, there was no indication that the kidnappers had made any demands for the release of the girl, or had sexually abused or otherwise hurt her. The motive at this time appears to be jealousy of the family friend, though Mai says her family has no known enemies and that Jessica had made few friends since starting school.
St. Catherine Academy officials did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
At the time of her alleged abduction, Jessica Acosta was wearing her SCA uniform, and was carrying a blue knapsack.
ASP Julio Valdez, head of CIB, had confirmed the abduction report, and tonight, the family informed CIB of their daughter’s return.