a044  0416  19 Jul 88
PM-Kidnapping,0407
Church Custodian Arrested In Abduction Of Two Girls
By JENNIFER McNULTY
Associated Press Writer
    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A church custodian was arrested in the
kidnappings of two girls, including a 4-year-old missing for six
weeks who was found boarded up beneath the church altar, police said.
    The girls were in good condition, and there was no sign they had
been molested or abused, county sheriff's spokeswoman Tenise Allen
said Monday. They were examined at a hospital and released to their
parents.
    Kenneth Alvin Michel, 32, was arrested Monday by Sacramento police
and sheriff's deputies as he drove up to the United Methodist Church
in suburban Elk Grove. He had no previous criminal record.
    Investigators traced his license plate on a blue sedan allegedly
used in an attempted abduction Monday of a 6-year-old girl that was
foiled by her 9-year-old sister and a witness who yelled at the man
and followed the car, said police Sgt. Bob Burns.
    ''The key to today's success appears to be the very observant
witness who got the license number,'' Burns said.
    Michel, who is deaf, directed officers to the girls' location, and
police interrogated him through a sign-language interpreter,
authorities said.
    ''He communicated with us by writing on paper,'' said John Thurston,
a police detective.
    Michel of Elk Grove faces charges in the kidnapping of Candi
Talarico, 4, and Muey Han Saefong, 5, and the attempted kidnapping of
the 6-year-old girl, Burns said.
    Candi was abducted June 4 while she played with friends outside her
Sacramento apartment. The kidnapping was featured on Fox Broadcasting
Co.'s ''America's Most Wanted'' program.
    Muey, who was abducted earlier Monday, was found in the back of
Michel's hatchback sedan, with tape over her mouth and around her
legs, Allen said.
    Candi was found in a 5-by-5-by-2-foot boarded-up space with a dirt
floor directly beneath the church's altar, Allen said. The space was
furnished with blankets, stuffed animals, books, food, lights, a
television and newspapers that contained articles about her
abduction.
    ''It appeared that she was well taken care of,'' Allen said. ''There
was no apparent sign of molestation or abuse.''
    Officers did not know long Candi had been at the church, Allen said.
    The church's pastor, the Rev. Linda Inlow, said she didn't know why
the girl had not been discovered earlier. Michel worked at the church
as a part-time custodian.
 
 
AP-NY-07-19-88 0706EDT
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