NBC 7’s Amber Frias spoke with neighbors of the suspect, including one who claims he knew the accused killer.
A man who allegedly abducted a woman in a South Bay neighborhood this week held her captive, threatened her with a gun and sexually assaulted her in a home with a dead body in it was behind bars Thursday.
Rafael Reyes Banda, 44, was booked early Thursday morning on suspicion of kidnapping and rape by force, according to San Diego County Sheriff records.
The events that led to Banda's arrest began shortly after noon Wednesday when a 43-year-old woman made an emergency call to report that she had been abducted at gunpoint at Palm Avenue and Saturn Boulevard in the Egger Highlands area by a man she had known for about a week, SDPD Lt. Jud Campbell said.
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The woman told investigators the kidnapper had held her captive at a home in the 2200 block of Citrus Avenue in the Palm City neighborhood for a roughly 24-hour period, during which he sexually assaulted her and threatened her with the gun. She said she was eventually able to escape and flag down a passing motorist.
She also told police that there had been a dead woman inside the residence during the ordeal, Campbell said.
After contacting and speaking with the alleged victim, officers went to the home, where they found Banda and detained him.
"When officers checked inside the residence, they located what appeared to be a deceased (woman)," the lieutenant said Thursday afternoon. "(She) remains unidentified, and her exact race and age are unknown. At this stage of the investigation, it is unclear what caused her death."
Homicide detectives were called in to investigate the suspicious fatality.
Banda's neighbors were shocked to hear about his arrest.
"I would have never imagined that something like this would happen just a few feet away from my home," said Juan Rodriguez, who added that he's known the suspect's family for years because their home has stayed in the family for decades.
As far as Rodriguez was aware, a woman and her two adult sons live in the house now but he said he hasn't seen them for two or three weeks. Another neighbor said the woman and her sons moved out shortly after Banda moved into the garage.
