‘Her whole life is a miracle’: Kidnapping victim, police reunite
By TJ Eckert
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SAPULPA, Oklahoma (KJRH) — For the first time since her kidnapping, Monserrat Aguirre and Capt. Jim Madden of the Sapulpa Police Department returned to the spot he found and saved her.
“I can remember seeing some of the houses, and being too scared to approach any of them,” Aguirre said.
In May 2014, Michael David Slatton kidnapped her from a Tulsa playground. He took Aguirre, 8 years old at the time, to woods in Sapulpa.
“I didn’t think I was going to find her alive,” Capt. Madden said.
Madden did find her alive, tied up in a sleeping bag, hours after the call went out. Now, 12 years later, the two returned to the same spot.
“I just feel very emotional thinking about God’s miracles,” Aguirre said. “Just knowing how, like there was a chance of me not being found.”
“Her whole life is a miracle,” Madden added. “She’s a person that stands out for all victims of violence and things of that nature.”
Aguirre, now 20, gained a sense of peace going back all these years later.
“It feels like this chapter has been opened for such a long time, and it’s been filled with such mystery and hurt and confusion,” Aguirre said. “And so, it kind of brings everything to a close.”
Now, she’s using what happened as a child to help shape her into the woman she is now.
“There are a lot of negative memories attached to this place, but I’d rather not use it as a weakness, but use it as a strength,” Aguirre said.
Slatton is serving a 120 year sentence.
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