A search was on the night of April 24 for three masked kidnappers who brazenly abducted 13 year old Mara Downes, a Catholic schoolgirl, in front of her Rockalnd County house, then abandoned her unscathed in the trunk of a stolen car. Cops were looking for two men and a woman involved in the kidnapping. The girl was thrown into the trunk of a Toyota Camry. An Amber Alert was sent out as cops searched the area for 2 1/2 hours before finding the Camry abandoned on Homer Lee Avenue, about a mile from the victim's home with the girl still in it.
Arraigned on kidnapping charges were Donald Siler, 19, who is on parole for robbery, his 14 year old brother, Jamahl, and their cousin Chantia Marshall, 18, all of Spring Valley. Donald Siler and Marshall pleaded not guilty. Jamahl, who will be tried as an adult, was too young to enter a plea.
The three teens were accused of forcing the screaming girl into the trunk in a kidnap-for-ransom scheme - telling her they'd be back the next day to feed her. The threesome - two brothers and their female cousin - abandoned the car with the girl still locked in it.
(New York)