Moroccan girl kidnapped in Barcelona found in Bolivian rainforest

Seven months ago, a nine-year-old girl went missing from Hospitalet de Llobregat, close to Barcelona.  She has now been rescued deep in the heart of Bolivia's Amazon rainforest.

The girl went missing in August 2013 after her Moroccan parents, who also have two other children, allowed Bolivian neighbors and friends to take her on holiday with them. When the parents were unable to contact the couple several days after they landed in Bolivia, they became concerned and got in touch with local police.

Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra worked together with Spain's Civil Guard to solve the mystery.  Officials contacted authorities in Bolivia to try and find out where the girl and her captors were located.

Eventually, seven months later, police have found the couple in a remote area of Bolivia’s Cochabamba region.  Reportedly the area is so remote, it is barely reachable by car.  The child was transferred to Cochabamba city where she is currently undergoing medical and psychological examinations before traveling back to Spain, accompanied by two police officers.

The alleged kidnapper, Grover Morales, 35, is facing charges of human trafficking, sexual abuse and criminal association in Bolivia.

Spanish sources: 

La Vanguardia
ABC

Stag night prank hits headlines in Madrid as 'armed kidnapping'

The media reported a "masked and armed kidnapping" in Madrid last Friday. Only later did the actual "victim" see the police reports and realized they were talking about his stag party!

Madrid police had received several calls from worried bystanders on Friday, saying that two masked gunmen had rushed a victim at gunpoint into a black Mercedes, in Salamanca, an upmarket Madrid neighborhood.

The story hit the media on Sunday. 37-year-old IT worker José Manuel Conde was browsing the Spanish daily El Mundo on Sunday and saw the kidnapping story. He immediately thought, "Shit, that's my stag party!"

He told the media that the unusual party pickup was his friend, David's idea. David, with the help of a third man, collected poor José, bundled him into the car and rushed him off to the party.

"We had to see how to get him there (to the party) and I had the idea of the kidnapping," David explained.

"We parked the car and the first thing we did was put on our balaclavas."

David did say that they had warned several people in the area, while they were waiting for José to finish work and that most people were laughing during the "kidnapping."

However, he added that "Someone else must have seen us from a distance and misinterpreted it."

David and his friend captured José, whose marriage is set for July 27, covered his head with a bag and threw him into the trunk of the Mercedes. 

"He believed it for about 20 minutes, he was scared, then he started laughing." 

"When I read the news in El Mundo I freaked out a bit," added David.

On seeing the media reports, David immediately phoned the police, who for some reason couldn't see the funny side of the story, and told him to visit the police station. Once there, he was sternly warned that they had been playing "a dangerous game". 

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354094