Last night this story was on about the abuduction of the two girls in California, what I loved was the girls determination not to die. But the best example was the Sherriff in the county he openly cried on the air, he said "If he is in MY county HE WILL BE FOUND" and when he was leaving the scene after the girls were rescued he was in tears and said" This is ONE S.O.B that we don't have too rehabilitate" . That man is an example for all Americans, we need to take ownership of our country again, just as he does his county. Instead of letting Pervs run free and baby killers they need to be brought to justice by authorities not let out to ruin another child and families life.
I also think that is why the girls are able to heal faster because they were dragged through court and their lives didn't become media fodder too cast doubt on "what really happened" and allow the guilty to destroy them in another way. Instead he was gone and now they know he won't ever hurt them or anyone ever again, now that is justice.
To Hell And Back
Jan. 31, 2003
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In other ways, though, she is remarkable. This is her story. Peter Van Sant reports.
Jacques incredible tale of survival began on Quartz Hill - a popular hangout overlooking the city of Palmdale, Calif. It was after midnight, and Jacque was nearing her curfew, enjoying the view with Frank Melero.
She and another teen, Tamara Brooks, were abducted by an armed man, a convicted felon named Roy Dean Ratliff. Although this story made headlines, details of the split-second decisions the two faced have never been told, including how the girls found the courage to attack Ratliff.
In the middle of the Mojave Desert, 130 miles from where they were abducted, Marris and Brooks used hand signals to hatch a plan to escape. They knew Ratliff was armed, and, if they tried to run, he could easily shoot them. Marris watched as Ratliff loaded and fired two guns into the empty desert. She believed her life was about to end. The only way out, she thought, was "to kill him, to let him pay for what he did and what we thought he was going to do."
So, summoning her courage, Marris stabbed Ratliff in the neck with a bowie knife and Brooks hit him with a whiskey bottle. Police say the attack stunned and weakened Ratliff and bought the teen-agers precious time. Marris and Brooks also successfully negotiated with their captor.
Marris says, "I started talking to him about God. If he was to kill us, if God would ever forgive him for what he was about to do." Police say the girls' strategy could be a blueprint for survival and a life-saving lesson for others.
CBS) As Tamara and Jacque considered what to do with the sleeping Ratliff, his eyes flickered.
I thought he was waking up," says Jacque. "And so I just did it real fast. And then he actually woke up. Tamara smashed him in the head with the whiskey bottle. And then since his door was open, that, that little crack, he like fell over. So we kicked him out. I threw the knife at him, and Tamara threw the whiskey bottle at him, Jacque says.
He was bleeding from a stab wound to the neck. They locked the doors, rolled up the windows and then realized that Ratliff still had the car key - and both guns.
Bleeding profusely from the knife wound in his neck, he threatened to kill them if they didnt open the door. He began shooting over the car.
Jacque and Tamara convinced him not to kill them: We started talking to him about God, If he was to kill us, if God would ever forgive him for what he was about to do.
After we started mentioning God and stuff, he like calmed down a little bit. And he was like silent for a couple moments.
With Ratliff still armed, the girls had no choice but to let him back in the Bronco. But he didnt kill them. They had been with him for about nine hours by now.
About 130 miles away, police were leading a massive effort to find the girls. Freeway billboards flashed a description of the Bronco. The signs are part of a new warning system called Amber Alert, designed to quickly notify the public when children are abducted. Police say that many children are killed within hours of being kidnapped.
As the search intensified, a distraught woman walked into this police station, handed over a photo and told police that her husband could be the kidnapper. The name she gave was Roy Dean Ratliff.
Shes a mother. She cared. She cared about those girls, says Kevin Seymour, a psychologist and friend of the Ratliff family.
He was very kind to my children, says Seymour. He was a good man when he wasnt drinking. But alcohol was real poison for this guy.
Ratliff was the father of two. He had been in and out of prison since he was a teen-ager - for nonviolent crimes. Seymour says Ratliff was always trying to turn things around. He once worked as a gardener at a child care center - and said it was a great reward to hear the children laugh.
The children at the child care center loved him. When he drank he became violent and he felt unable to control that, says Seymour.
Ratliff began driving, and got back on the highway. His neck continued to bleed. He kept telling me to look-watch his neck, and tell him when to wipe, because the blood, it was bleeding real bad still and the blood would just like - pour down and Id tell him to wipe so hed wipe.
Jacque remembers him playing a song about suicide. He told the girls he didnt care if he died or not.
Milton Walters, a highway worker, heard reports about the abduction all morning. Just about 11 a.m., Walters was shocked to see a white Bronco coming his way on Highway 178.
I looked right at him. Right through the passenger side window and he kinda had like a crappy little smile on his face and kind of nodded at me as he went by, says Walters, who called police on his cell phone. Helicopters and planes raced to the area. But in the vast desert, they couldnt find the Bronco.
In the Bronco, Jacque and Tamara felt theyd gone off road. They worried that Ratliff planned to kill them and dump their bodies in the brush.
Suddenly, Jacque and Tamara heard a helicopter overhead. It got louder. They worried even more, because Ratliff had said he would kill them if the police showed up.
We were hoping that the helicopter would go away, Jacque says. It didnt. Kern County deputies James Stratton and Larry Thatcher, driving, followed the helicopter to an isolated stretch of land in the Mojave Desert.
They got out of their vehicle, and saw Ratliff. I drew my weapon, Thatcher says. I yelled at him to get his hands where I could see em. He hollered back at me, No way
Ratliff drove off into the brush fast. He just turned to the left real fast, says Jacque. When he turned, the Bronco almost flipped. Then it got stuck on a rock.
The deputies ran down the hill toward the Bronco. They didnt know where the two girls were. Jacque and Tamara, who were lying in the backseat, saw the deputies outside the Bronco. He jumps on the back of the seat and he had his gun in his hand I thought he was gonna kill me right then, says Jacque. Because his gun was loaded and he had it right by my head.
He was shouting out at the cops I have the girls. You better not shoot or else theyre gonna die. With about six feet separating the cops from Ratliff, the two deputies were putting their lives on the line.
Within seconds, Ratliff pulled the trigger, shooting out the window. The deputies shot back. The bullets were just flying everywhere, says Jacque.
Once I made sure of my target, I lined up my sights straight on him and I squeezed the trigger, says Stratton. The glass looked like it fell like rain drops, and he looked at me with the sense of You got me! A bullet fired by Thatcher killed Ratliff.
When I was finished firing, then I can see the Bronco rocking and definitely can hear some screaming, Stratton says. I said, Somebodys alive. Its just like a newborn baby you wanna hear your child screaming. Because when you hear that, you know theyre alive.
Seventeen bullets hit that white Bronco during several seconds of intense, smoky gunplay. It is a miracle that Jacque and Tamara got out alive. It was just an indescribable feeling of like, just relief, Jacque says.
Since August, Jacque has received gifts from strangers. Many write that they are inspired by her courage. She has tried to put the incident behind her. I try to keep myself, like, real busy so I dont ever get a chance to think about it.
But what happened in the Bronco can never be erased. Jacque fills every minute of every day, pouring herself into coaching her sisters cheerleading team, juggling schoolwork and a part time job. She leans on family and friends, but sometimes, the tears come.
It helps to know that she fought back. Police believe fighting back is a key reason Jacque and Tamara are still alive. Says Jacque: I know now what I can overcome. I know now if I set my mind to something I can accomplish it.
Edited by - SheilaM on 1 February 2003 10:59:20
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