The Last Time We Saw Her. Robert Falcon Scott

“I won’t take you far.”

      True to his word, he drove only a little farther down to an area near Princeton Drive. Natalie had no illusions about what was coming next. Even as he drove, the man reached over and let his free hand roam all over her naked body. He inserted one of his fingers into her vagina and then into her anus. It’s not exactly clear at what point this happened, but he soon parked in a dark area. He then unzipped his pants and told her to “go down on it.”

      Natalie cried out, “I don’t know how! I’ve never done that!”

      “I’ll show you how,” he replied, and forced her head down.

      But it wasn’t working. The man became more and more angry and agitated. “We need another spot,” he said, perhaps worried that they might be seen on Princeton Drive.

      He started the vehicle again and drove away. As he did so, he told Natalie not to look out the window. She disobeyed him, however, wanting to know where he was taking her. She thought she was being cagey about this, but he spotted her. Her captor snarled, “I told you not to peek!”

      Natalie’s memory of what occurred next became jumbled in its images of this nightmarish ride. It might have been on the side of a street, but more likely the man stopped in the parking lot of an apartment complex. He pulled out a small item, which, at first, she thought was a pen. It was, in fact, a small crack pipe. The man loaded the pipe with some crack cocaine, lit it, and then blew smoke into her nostrils. He told her to open her mouth and inhale. But Natalie didn’t want to do that.

      “What is it?” she asked.

      “Shut up!” he replied. “Just do as I say! This will relax you.”

      But it didn’t relax her. It only made her more frightened about the whole situation.

      Natalie cried, “Can’t I just go home?”

      The man answered, “If you make me happy, you have a better chance of going home.”

      He climbed on top of her and kissed her neck and breasts. Despite fondling her some more, inserting his finger once again into her vagina and anus, the man could not stay erect. Frustrated and angry, he made her lie on her stomach as he searched around for something to tie her up with. Eventually he bound her wrists together with laces from one of her shoes and bound her ankles with her scarf. Then he stuffed her panties into her mouth and bound it to her head with another shoestring. He draped a coat over her head and fastened it there with a belt. Then he told her, “Don’t move. I’m watching you.”

      Satisfied with his handiwork, the man suddenly and unexpectedly exited the vehicle and went walking away toward a row of apartments near the parking lot where they were now situated. Once he was out of sight, Natalie began thrashing, twisting, and wiggling with all her might to loosen her restraints.

      She said later, “The scarf was kind of loose, and I got that off easily. Then I loosened the shoestring that bound my wrists.” She pulled the panties out of her mouth as well, but she was in such a hurry, she did not remove them from around her neck. That accomplished, Natalie didn’t even bother dressing. She just grabbed her coat, managed to unlock the car door, and vaulted out into the open. Then, without a backward glance, she took off running.

      Clad only in socks and a coat, which barely covered her naked body, Natalie went running down the street until she came to the vicinity of Louisiana Boulevard SE. But this wasn’t the best part of town, and as she tried to flag cars down, they must have thought she was some whacked-out druggie or prostitute. No one stopped to help her.

      Natalie was eventually able to speak to one group of people in a car near a stoplight. She begged, “Please help me! Let me in!” But the people stared out at her in dismay. One of them said, “Our car is too full.” And then they took off.

      Natalie ran across the street to a small Mexican restaurant. There were people inside there, but they, too, were reluctant to help her. Perhaps they had limited English, and the Russian-accented words pouring out of Natalie’s mouth were hard to understand. And then, unexpectedly and almost by a miracle, a car with a woman and some children pulled over near the restaurant. The car was driven by Dara Finks, and one of Dara’s daughters was in the front passenger seat. Seeing the strange young woman running down the street, clad only in socks and a coat, Dara nonetheless had decided to pull over in the dark to see if she could help.

      Dara and one of her daughters went into the restaurant and spoke with the strange girl, who was so scantily dressed. Natalie’s story came tumbling out; she spoke of how she had been attacked by a man with a knife and was forced to disrobe. Dara offered to call 911, while Dara’s daughter offered Natalie an extra pair of pants, which were in the car.

      All three women got into Dara’s car; and as they took off, Natalie could see her attacker across the street getting into his red Honda and starting the car. She was afraid he might follow them, but he took off in another direction.

      Natalie got on Dara’s cell phone and spoke to a 911 dispatcher. Natalie told the dispatcher what had just occurred and gave a description of her attacker and the car he had been in. Natalie was given instructions where to meet a police officer, who would then handle her report.

      The first law enforcement agent to arrive was Officer Aragon of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). Officer Aragon spoke with Natalie and Dara and began a report on the incident. Natalie told about being abducted at knifepoint, driven away in the car, forced to disrobe, and then sexually molested. She also spoke of the last location she had been when she’d managed to escape. Because she knew from what area she’d started running to seek help, Officer Aragon was able to take Natalie back to the exact block of Louisiana Boulevard SE. With any luck the red Honda might have returned to the lot, and an arrest could be made.

      The car wasn’t there, but Natalie’s description of the vehicle was very good. She told Officer Aragon that it was a red Honda with a red-and-gray interior and a stuffed-animal monkey in the back window. The monkey had suction cups on its hands and feet, which allowed it to be attached to a vehicle window. The Honda had been in the apartment complex parking lot at the location where they now were. It was there that the man had tied her up and then exited the vehicle, looking for something or someone.

      Soon other officers arrived on the scene, including APD detective John Romero. Detective Romero had his crime scene technicians spread out and search the area. One of them found a shoestring that most likely had been used to bind Natalie. And then a real piece of luck occurred. Officer Aragon went to an apartment close to where the red Honda had been parked. He contacted a woman there named Zoraido Oviedo. Oviedo told Officer Aragon that she knew a man named “Joe” who owned a red Honda. In fact, Joe had just left her apartment in a hurry, saying, “I gotta get outta here!” He had been very agitated and afraid of something.

      Oviedo didn’t know Joe’s last name, or where he lived. But she thought it was somewhere in the area of Yale and Gibson boulevards. In fact, she didn’t even know if Joe was really his name. It’s just what he called himself.

      Natalie was transported to a hospital for treatment by Officer R. Sanchez. Meanwhile, Officer E. Taylor drove to the area of Yale and Gibson where Oviedo had indicated Joe lived. As Officer Taylor cruised up and down the streets, he spotted a red Honda with a toy monkey in the back window. And as Taylor got out to inspect the vehicle, as if by magic, a man who matched the description that Natalie had given approached the Honda.

      Officer Taylor detained the man and asked if his name was Joe.

      The man corrected Taylor and said that his name was Joel.

      By the incredible survival instincts of Natalie Kirov, the timely and brave intervention of Dara Finks, and the good police work by the Albuquerque Police Department, a chain of events was about to go into effect. A chain of events that would lead back through a man named Joel to a kidnapping, rape, and murder of a young woman in Oregon months prior to that November evening. Just like with Natalie, Joel had snatched the young blond woman off a “safe street.” That young woman was a college student as well. Joel drove her to a remote location, made her disrobe, sexually molested her for more than a day, and then killed