A talking bird led to the capture of a 19-year-old daycare worker who was a suspect in the abduction of a 5-year-old girl from her elementary school last month. Christina Regusters, 19, was arrested and charged with the kidnapping and rape of the five-year-old girl, Na'illa Robinson. According to a report from ABC on Feb. 15, the woman dressed herself in a black Muslim veil, which was the same way Na'illa's mother dressed. She then posed as her mother and pulled her from the classroom and abducted her.
Regusters worked at an afterschool program that the child attended, and school officials are saying that policies were not followed when the girl was checked out of class. The woman told the school that she was taking the girl out to breakfast.
Authorities believe the woman and child walked just a short distance away to a house where a man was waiting for them. Upon arriving at their destination, the child was blindfolded, and forced to remove her clothes and was told to hide under a bed, authorities said.
After the girl was sexually assaulted and more, she was dropped of about 18 hours later at a park almost a mile from her school, A passer-by spotted the child shivering under playground equipment on Jan. 14. When she was discovered, the girl told her rescuer, "I've been stolen."
Police have since taken the girl to various places around the neighborhood as they search for more clues.
"The investigation is very much active and ongoing," Darby said at a news conference Thursday.
Attorney Tom Kline, who is representing the family, revealed that the child told investigators that there was a talking bird at the house where she was held captive. This proved to be a crucial piece of information that helped lead police to their suspect.
"This brave, innocent precious little girl was instrumental in leading police literally to the door of the crime," Kline said in an interview Friday. "She told them that there was a bird in the house. The bird became one of the many focal points of the investigation."
Christina Regusters is being charged with kidnapping, rape of a child, conspiracy, aggravated assault along with other offenses and is being held on $4 million bail, District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement.
Kline expressed that the girl suffered “terrible, horrible injuries” and that the family was “grateful” for the woman's arrest.
“There is still more work to be done,” he said adding that there were clearly additional people involved. “We are watching anxiously the next developments because this is not the end of the line.”
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