Thread: Mother's Immigration Status NOT AN ISSUE??

Desperate Search for Tennessee Baby Allegedly Kidnapped by Fake Immigration Agent

Friday, October 02, 2009



FOX17/WZTV.com

According to police, Lisa Sampson, 30, is a person of interest in the case of a missing 4-day-old baby in Nashville.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Just a week after Yair Anthony Carillo was born, police in Tennessee were looking for the snatched infant and his abductor with growing concern.

The chubby baby with a thick mane of black hair was taken from his home Tuesday, just four days after he was born to 30-year-old Maria Gurrolla. She says a heavyset white woman with blonde hair arrived at her home south of Nashville posing as an immigration agent, attacked her with a kitchen knife, then took the boy, who turned a week old Friday. Her 3-year-old daughter was left in the home unharmed.

Police say they are getting tips and leads every hour, but concern for his safety grows with each passing day.

"We don't know that the person who took the child knows how to take care of an infant," said police spokesman Don Aaron.

Gurrolla has said the woman did not mention wanting to take the baby.

"She said she was an immigration officer and she was there to arrest her," said Gurrolla's cousin, serving as interpreter.

Gurrolla suffered several stab wounds to her neck and chest. She was released from the hospital Thursday.

Officers have canvassed the neighborhood of single-family brick homes, hoping to find witnesses or clues. A crime scene analyst has been to the home looking for evidence that could lead to the suspect.

Police said they have a sketch based on Gurrolla's description but aren't yet ready to release it to the public.

"Law enforcement has absolutely 100 percent hope that this child will be safely recovered," said Kristin Helm, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Gurrolla said she did not see the woman take the baby because she ran to a neighbor's home for help. That neighbor, Eric Peterson, told The Associated Press that Gurrolla banged on his door and was "covered from her head to her toe with blood," with gashes on her neck and upper chest.

She pleaded with him to rescue her children from the "lady in the kitchen" who had a butcher knife. He went to the home a few doors down and saw a woman speeding away. He brought Gurrolla's daughter back safely to his house, but found no baby.



Metro Nashville Police have released a surveillance photo of a Kia Spectra that parked next to Gurrolla at a nearby Walmart shortly before the baby was taken and may have followed her out of the parking lot.

Gurrolla is a Latina. Police said they do not know why her family was targeted, and advocates were worried that the city's Hispanic population can be preyed upon by those claiming to be authorities.

Police said they think she has been in Nashville about 10 years, but it isn't clear if she is an immigrant or a citizen. Her family has declined to talk about the issue, and police spokesman Don Aaron said her citizenship was not significant to the investigation.

Immigrants must be taught to trust U.S. law enforcement and criminals can take advantage of their fears of deportation or police, said Yuri Cunza, president of Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and publisher of La Noticia, a Spanish language newspaper in Nashville.

"I am really concerned about the possibility of newborn babies and Hispanic women can be targeted because of a level of vulnerability," Cunza said.

A similar case targeted a Latino family in Nashville in 2005. Christina Delarosa Sanchez pleaded guilty to the murder of Hilda Griselda Gutierrez and her 3-year-old daughter in a foiled plot to steal the woman's infant son.

Click here for more from WZTV/FOX17.

This part disturbs me the most:

Gurrolla said she did not see the woman take the baby because she ran to a neighbor's home for help. That neighbor, Eric Peterson, told The Associated Press that Gurrolla banged on his door and was "covered from her head to her toe with blood," with gashes on her neck and upper chest.

She pleaded with him to rescue her children from the "lady in the kitchen" who had a butcher knife. He went to the home a few doors down and saw a woman speeding away. He brought Gurrolla's daughter back safely to his house, but found no baby.

She left her kids with a knife wielding maniac?!?!?! What kind of mother leaves her kids behind in a situation like this?

She needed a translator, doesn't speak English...how was she able to communicate with her neighbor?

Too many unanswered questions in this story.

Immigrants must be taught to trust U.S. law enforcement and criminals can take advantage of their fears of deportation or police, said Yuri Cunza, president of Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and publisher of La Noticia, a Spanish language newspaper in Nashville.


They are ILLEGALS not immigrants. And illegals are also criminals.

They are ILLEGALS not immigrants. And illegals are also criminals

There needs to be billboard somewhere stating that so people get A clue!!

Judge to Rule When Baby Snatch Victim Will be Reunited With 4 Children

Monday, October 05, 2009



NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A week ago, Maria Gurrolla was celebrating the birth of her fourth child. A blue yard sign announced: "IT'S A BOY!" She visited a local welfare office that helps low-income mothers.

Then an attacker posing as an immigration worker arrived at her home south of Nashville, stabbed the 30-year-old mother and snatched away her 4-day-old son. The newborn was found safe, but after a brief reunion, state officials took the baby away from Gurrolla again, along with her other three children.

Now Gurrolla is left to wonder when she might see any of them again. A judge will review the case this week to determine when Yair Anthony Carillo and his siblings — ages 3, 9, 11 — can come home.

State officials say the children were taken into custody Saturday for safety reasons but have not offered details. A spokesman said a hearing must occur within three days of when the children were taken into state custody.

Tammy Renee Silas, 39, was arrested and charged with kidnapping. She waived her initial court appearance in Alabama on Saturday and is expected to be brought to Tennessee sometime this week, FBI spokesman Joel Siskovic said Sunday. She was appointed an attorney, but Siskovic didn't know the lawyer's name and the jail wouldn't release any information.

Police have not released a motive, but Silas' live-in boyfriend said she told him she could not have children and wanted to adopt a child from a relative who was going to jail.

Gurrolla had returned home with the infant and her 3-year-old daughter on Tuesday when she answered a knock at the door.

A heavy-set woman with blonde hair claimed she was an immigration agent and wanted to know about false information Gurrolla had given during a visit that morning to a Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, office. WIC is a federal program that provides vouchers to women to purchase approved foods at grocery stores and pharmacies.

Gurrolla's attacker stabbed her with a knife eight times, mostly in the neck and chest. When the woman briefly walked away, Gurrolla darted to a neighbor's house, pleading for help. Sometime after that, the kidnapper fled with the newborn.

Gurrolla was left bloodied from head to toe, a long scratch on her face. When she held a news conference Tuesday from the hospital to plead for her baby to be found, her eyes were bloodshot and her face was swollen.

Gurrolla has told police that she heard the attacker talking on the phone in Spanish, saying, "The job is done" and that the mother "was dying."

Authorities have not said whether they think anyone else was involved.

Police found a surveillance tape from a local Walmart showing a Kia Spectra with Indiana tags that appeared to have followed Gurrolla. It turned out to be a rental from the Nashville airport, and a phone number registered with the rental led police to Silas on Friday night.

Investigators were talking with her live-in boyfriend, Martin Rodriguez, when Silas appeared holding the infant, covered in a blanket.

Speaking through an interpreter, Rodriguez told The Associated Press that Silas told him she was adopting a baby from a cousin who had to go to jail, and was going to El Paso, Texas, to get the child.

He said Silas had a newborn with her when he picked her up from the Huntsville airport Tuesday. The rental car was returned in Huntsville, authorities said.

"She was acting normal around the baby, and I didn't really see any difference, but I think she was happy," Rodriguez said from their one-story home, where a box of baby clothes for a boy overflowed in the dining room. "What woman isn't happy to carry a baby?"

Rodriguez said the last thing she told him was: "I am so sorry, and I love you."

Siskovic, an FBI special agent in the Memphis division, said there was no indication of an ongoing threat to Gurrolla's family. He could not say why the children were in state custody.

Gurrolla was briefly reunited with her son on Saturday, and authorities said she was allowed to hold him. State officials then took custody of all the children.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,560 ... latestnews

Where is this baby's father? And why are all the kids taken away when there is no longer a threat to the family. Something smells.

According to police, Lisa Sampson, 30, is a person of interest in the case of a missing 4-day-old baby in Nashville.

So whatever happened to Lisa Sampson? How has her life been impacted by being named in this?

It puzzles me that the media has no problem whatsoever identifying persons of interest when they happen to be white, but hide the identity when it's a non-white person of interest. Why is that? Why the double standard?

Can't wait to hear the reason the other kids were taken away.

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world...to-155127.html

vortex wrote:

Where is this baby's father? And why are all the kids taken away when there is no longer a threat to the family. Something smells.

Bingo - she tried to sell the baby.

I just cannot say what I would really like to about these third world invaders.

Originally Posted by GaPatriot

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world...to-155127.html

vortex wrote:

Where is this baby's father? And why are all the kids taken away when there is no longer a threat to the family. Something smells.

Bingo - she tried to sell the baby.

I just cannot say what I would really like to about these third world invaders.

WOW! What a tangled web, indeed. Thanks for the info GaPatriot!

I wonder if she's still getting her "low income mother" assistance? And if her immigration status cannot/has not been confirmed - or isn't an issue - WHY is/was she getting ANYTHING?

Tuesday, October 06, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee mother of a kidnapped baby will regain custody of her four kids and is cleared of involvement in an alleged baby-selling plan, a lawyer for the children said Tuesday.

Attorney Thomas Miller said a Tuesday custody hearing was canceled amid an investigation into the claims that the family of mom Maria Gurrolla tried to sell the baby boy after he was abducted by a fake immigration agent.

Miller — who is representing the newborn and his three siblings — said Gurrolla will be reunited with 1-week-old Yair Anthony Carillo after losing him twice in recent days, first to the alleged kidnapper and then to state foster care.

The baby was recovered last week after he was abducted during a Sept. 29 knife attack at Gurrolla's home. A suspect is in custody.

Miller said the family will soon be reunited and police determined the parents weren't trying to sell the baby.

Officials with Nashville police, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Children's Services didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

Gurrolla was briefly reunited with Yair over the weekend before state child welfare officials placed all four of her children in foster care.

Two officials confirmed allegations that a family member tried to sell Yair, but spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. They could not say how or if the allegations were related to the kidnapping.

The baby was safely recovered in Alabama on Friday, three days after he was snatched from his Nashville home. His mother said he was taken after a woman posing as an immigration agent attacked her with a knife.

An Alabama woman is in custody, facing a federal kidnapping charge. State officials said only that they took Gurrolla's children after Yair was found because of safety concerns.

Tammy Renee Silas, 39, was charged after authorities said they found the baby at her home about 80 miles south of Nashville.


Gurrolla told investigators that after she was stabbed, the abductor made a phone call and said in Spanish "The job is done" and that the mother "was dying," according to the criminal complaint against Silas.

Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Department of Children's Services, and spokesmen for the FBI and Nashville police would not comment on the baby-selling report during their probe.

Investigators have been trying to answer "significant questions, perhaps the most important of which is why this newborn was chosen over everybody else in the city," Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said before Tuesday's custody outcome.

Silas has given a statement to investigators, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm, who declined to detail what she said. No one could name a lawyer for her. Gurrolla and other family members could not be reached at her home on Monday, and it wasn't clear if they are being represented.

Silas has not been charged in the attack on Gurrolla, who was stabbed several times and suffered a collapsed lung.

Gurrolla pleaded for her baby to be returned shortly after the armed abduction. Her initial reunion with him on Saturday was short because state child welfare officials quickly took him and the other three children — ages 3, 9 and 11.

Gurrolla told investigators she had never seen the woman who stabbed her. According to the arrest warrant, Gurrolla was targeted while she and a cousin, identified only as "JS," were running errands and visiting a state food assistance office.

A car that police said Silas rented was seen on a surveillance video following Gurrolla before the attack, and the car rental information led police to her home.

Yair's father lives in Nashville, and Gurrolla's marital status was unclear. Police have said they were treating the case as a stranger kidnapping.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,561060,00.html