Anyone rembember abused girl named Esther? Updates?
Anne
year old lady telling her story of growing up. She looked to be Native
American. She was adopted as a baby by a pastor and his wife, who had
3 children of their own, but these children may have been younger than
the adopted lady. From the very beginning they both abused here. Her
earliest memory is being in a high chair and the mom pushing her and
the chair down the stairs, doctors found many scars from being pinched
with pliers all over her body. The girl at one time drank anti-freeze
to kill herself (that's what the family did to thier unwanted
kittens), but help arrived and she was "saved", she did not tell
anyone of the abuse and it continued. The family was last living in a
large open gym, and the dogs would urinate on the floors. Esther had
to do all the cleaning and chores. When Esther was about 12 or 13 her
dad began raping her but he forced some twisted bible crap in her head
trying to make her think this was ok. When her story finally came out
she was shunned by her siblings, they were on the mom and dad's
"side". Does anyone know remember this, or have any updates? I always
felt for that girl.
cndc
Elizabeth
tinydancer
"Anne" <xzak...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ded2b1e0.04032...@posting.google.com...
I remember the story, but don't know anything further than the episode on TV
you are referring to. I've often wondered about her myself, it was a
haunting story and I too felt so much compassion for the girl.
td
Kris Baker
Dazeybells
We think that if we tell it right just one more time, it will never have to
be told again. People will learn and things will change.
Child abuse is one of those subjects. How many times have I told this story?
Yet I could tell it every day and never exhaust the supply of small victims
and unthinkable abusers.
I think, though, I will never tell a story quite like that of Esther Combs,
whose earliest memory is of her mother tying her to a high chair and
knocking it down the basement stairs. Some 410 physical scars and 19 years
worth of soul-damaging violence later, Combs' life was actually saved when
she attempted suicide.
The Preacher's Daughter
Very few people even knew of Combs' existence when, in February 1997, an
ambulance delivered her to an emergency room in Bristol, Tenn. Paramedics
reported that she raved deliriously during the ride, saying, "Don't hurt me.
I'll make the coffee right this time."
That ride led to Combs' first encounter with a physician.
"Her physical appearance was shocking," recalls Dr. Jennifer Stiefel. "She
had scars from her face to her back to her limbs. All parts of her body were
covered."
Lab tests established that Combs had swallowed anti-freeze in an attempt to
take her own life. She had to spend several days in the hospital, but now
the doctors who saved her life knew the secret of her torture. Her
assailants could be brought to justice - if only she would share the
details.
But Combs refused to answer any questions about her scars, and her family
denied any knowledge of how she obtained them.
It took the dedication of Bristol police Detective Debbie Richmond to crack
the case, and it was a long, arduous journey.
Because Combs was 19 - no longer a minor - there was litle Richmond, the
department's specialist in child abuse cases, could do without her
cooperation. Combs would have to come forward in order to get help, and
there seemed little hope of that.
Her father, Joe Combs, was a respected preacher at Emmanuel Baptist Church.
His position in the community helped shield him and his wife, Evangeline,
from public scrutiny.
For weeks, Richmond cruised by the church, sometimes getting a glimpse of
Esther, who turned away, apparently frightened. Once, after Richmond had not
spotted the young woman for some time, a plainclothes officer attended
church services to see if she would appear.
Pastor Combs resented Richmond's attention and complained on a local
religious radio station that he was being persecuted.
By that time, Esther's family had sent her to stay with an aunt and uncle in
Georgia, apparently hoping to keep her away from the Bristol police. But the
change of location had an unintended result. Living with her aunt, uncle and
cousins, the young woman discovered family life could be peaceful and
fun-loving.
At last she decided to share the secret of her torture, and after several
months she called Richmond for help.
Chains, Whips - and Biblical Justification
The Combs family lived in almost total isolation. Their home was the vast
gymnasium and fellowship hall near the church.
Esther, her three brothers and two sisters were home-schooled. No visitors
were allowed into the home - not even parishioners.
Richmond says a later search of the property found it was filthy, garbage
and rat-infested and inhabited by caged cats and dogs. The pungent odor was
still faintly there last fall when the detective took me and our cameras on
a tour of the place.
Richmond pointed out the basketball floor where, she says Esther Combs "was
beaten with ropes, chains, whips, umbrellas, bats."
By the time I met Esther, she was living by herself. She told me of these
horrors and more.
Beginning at age 11, she said, she was regularly sexually abused by her
father. She said he told her that King David had concubines, so this
behavior was condoned by the Bible.
"He said that . my gift, to help the family was . to be a servant," she
said, and she was punished when she failed to serve properly.
The verbal and physical abuse she related seemed unthinkable, but she told
me of things even more striking.
Esther Combs had never consciously realized that what was being done to her
was abnormal. Two attempts to run away and the attempted suicide were made
only because the physical pain was so acute that she could not take it any
more.
She later said she felt that her suicide attempt was an act of cowardice.
She could not understand at all why I considered her a brave human being, a
survivor.
Because I have done so many stories about abuse victims, I was prepared when
she told me that she - like most people who had been abused as children -
expressed longing, even love for the family that had so mistreated her. Just
before Father's Day this last summer, she told me that she wanted very much
to send her father a card, even though she felt she ought to hate him.
A New Beginning
In November 1998, Joe and Evangeline Combs were indicted on multiple charges
of aggravated child abuse, assault and kidnapping; Joe was further charged
with rape. Last spring, both were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms
that will likely keep them behind bars for the rest of their lives.
Esther Combs has started a new life with a new name. She has earned a high
school diploma and has a full-time job. Her devoted boyfriend is helping her
to achieve a longtime dream: learning to drive.
Still, she has many bad days. She has nightmares and flashbacks, but she has
survived and is building on her tenuous hold on life.
Though I tell myself it's not proper for a journalist to feel so involved, I
worry about this young woman and so does Richmond, who is the only "family"
Esther Combs has now. Richmond recently had a baby girl and I have a picture
on my desk of Esther holding that child.
No one involved with this story - not producers David Perozzi and Howie
Masters, nor editor Jack Pyle nor I - can get Esther Combs out of our minds.
Although I keep wishing this could be the last word any journalist ever has
to write about child abuse, I know it won't be.
Messalina
Here's an update:
Elsa Rachel Garcia is getting a second chance at life.
The young woman once known as Esther Combs is starting over at age 22.
Once denied an education and shut off from the outside world, she said
she now hopes to go to college and become a nurse.
She said she also wants to spread the word that preventing child abuse
is everyone's responsibility.
"If someone suspects something is happening, even though it's a pastor
(or) anybody in authority, they need to speak up," Garcia said during
a Wednesday interview with Newschannel 11. "They need to try because
they could be saving someone's life."
Accounts of Garcia's painful past caught the region's attention during
the recent month-long jury trial of the couple who raised her, the
Rev. Joseph Combs and his wife, Evangeline.
During that trial, Garcia testified that she was beaten, burned and
enslaved by the couple for decades and was sexually molested by Joseph
Combs. Much of the abuse happened while the family lived in the
fellowship hall at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bristol Tennessee, where
Joseph Combs was the pastor, Garcia testified.
Joseph Combs, 51, and Evangeline Combs, 50, were found guilty of
abusing and enslaving Garcia and are now in prison for those crimes.
Joseph Combs was sentenced to 114 years behind bars; Evangeline Combs
received a 65-year prison sentence.
At the couple's trial, several former members of Joseph Combs' church
congregation testified that they saw Garcia, then known as Esther
Combs, with black eyes and her arm in a sling.
Former church members also testified that the girl was isolated from
the congregation and seemed to be treated differently than her
siblings. Some said they left the church because of their concerns
about the family.
Garcia said she believes her suffering was prolonged because those who
suspected she might have been abused did nothing about it.
"Because of the fact they didn't (speak up), I went through a lot of
what I went through, and there's other people going through stuff like
that," she said.
The lifetime of abuse has left Garcia with more than 400 scars on her
body. There are also emotional scars that are not visible, Garcia
said, adding that the experience has shaken her belief in God.
"It's not something I'm ready to get over. There are still a lot of
issues there," Garcia said, referring to her feelings about religion.
Garcia's ordeal began when she was an infant and an Indiana children's
home gave her to the Combses, who never legally adopted her. Garcia
now says she blames the adoption agency for much of what happened to
her over the next two decades because she said they did little to find
out why the adoption was not completed.
"I blame the home in Indiana. I blame them with everything I've got.
It was from their, `We're sorry she slipped through the cracks,' that
I went through what I went through," Garcia said Wednesday. "I didn't
have to go through it. It was because someone let a pastor get away
with it, and I blame them with everything I've got."
Lawyers for Garcia have filed a federal civil lawsuit against the
adoption agency, Baptist Children's Home in Valparaiso, Ind., and
against the Combses themselves.
While a trial of that civil lawsuit remains in the future, Garcia has
said she was glad to put the criminal trial behind her.
"I'm stronger. I've grown up in a sense. I've matured," Garcia said of
her long ordeal.
Garcia began her journey to a new life in 1998, when she contacted a
Bristol police detective and told her about the years of abuse she
suffered. That first phone call led to the criminal charges against
the Combses and ultimately to their convictions.
A short time after she came forward with her allegations, Garcia
changed her name and moved to Michigan. In Michigan, Garcia met her
birth mother, Rachel Whetstone, for the first time. Whetstone was a
young, unwed mother when she gave Garcia up for adoption in 1977.
The initial reunion was a rocky one, but Garcia said she and her birth
mother are now working to forge a lasting relationship. Their
relationship improved after Whetstone came to Tennessee for the
Combses' trial, Garcia said.
"I have a family now. It's at the beginning stage. We are just getting
acquainted," Garcia said. "When I first met (Whetstone), I wasn't even
out of the situation a year. I expected so much of her and she
expected so much of me and we just clashed. It didn't work. Now, we
are taking it really slow and it's working."
Garcia said she is also building relationships with her two
half-sisters and a half-brother. She also is eagerly looking forward
to the birth of her half-sister's baby, which is due later this week.
While she is cultivating relationships with her family in Michigan,
Garcia has decided to make her home in Bristol Tennessee. Despite the
painful memories, she has made new friends here, Garcia said.
"I just needed a new place to start out. It is very pretty here. I
love it here," Garcia said. "There's a lot of bad memories here, but I
don't think that defines a place. It's what you make of it."
Garcia is now back in school -- studying for a GED and hoping to go to
college. She said she wants to be a hospital nurse so she can help
others.
While looking forward to the future, Garcia said she takes pleasure in
the small things.
"I'm going to school. I'm looking forward to a job," Garcia said,
adding that she is happy now "just kidding around with people who are
friends to me (and) just experiencing life."
Joseph and Evangeline Combs are being held at Brushy Mountain State
Prison. Joseph Combs will be 101 before he can ask for parole;
Evangeline Combs will be 75 before she is eligible for parole.
Both of the Combses have announced plans to appeal their convictions.
Mez
tinydancer
"Messalina" <sec...@duelingoak.com> wrote in message
news:7111e10e.04032...@posting.google.com...
> xzak...@yahoo.com (Anne) wrote in message
news:<ded2b1e0.04032...@posting.google.com>...
> > I am referring to a 48 hours or dateline episode. There was this 18-20
> > year old lady telling her story of growing up. She looked to be Native
> > American. She was adopted as a baby by a pastor and his wife, who had
> > 3 children of their own, but these children may have been younger than
> > the adopted lady. From the very beginning they both abused here. Her
> > earliest memory is being in a high chair and the mom pushing her and
> > the chair down the stairs, doctors found many scars from being pinched
> > with pliers all over her body. The girl at one time drank anti-freeze
> > to kill herself (that's what the family did to thier unwanted
> > kittens), but help arrived and she was "saved", she did not tell
> > anyone of the abuse and it continued. The family was last living in a
> > large open gym, and the dogs would urinate on the floors. Esther had
> > to do all the cleaning and chores. When Esther was about 12 or 13 her
> > dad began raping her but he forced some twisted bible crap in her head
> > trying to make her think this was ok. When her story finally came out
> > she was shunned by her siblings, they were on the mom and dad's
> > "side". Does anyone know remember this, or have any updates? I always
> > felt for that girl.
>
> Here's an update:
>
> Elsa Rachel Garcia is getting a second chance at life.
Thanks for the update Mez. So glad to hear they were both found guilty and
received long sentences, although not long enough IMO. It's hard to
understand a whole church congregation not doing anything to help this poor
girl. Not a single one of these 'christian people' reported anything to the
authorities, they simply changed churches. What a tragedy.
td
Chocolic
"Dazeybells" <Dazey...@direcway.com> wrote in message
news:c3qed2$29q4b3$1...@ID-193755.news.uni-berlin.de...
What a sad story. Kudos to Detective Richmond for following up on the
abuse. She is an extreme compliment to the profession.
Thanks for the post Dazybells.
Chocolic
DedNdogYrs
father. She said he told her that King David had concubines, so this behavior
was condoned by the Bible.>
Of course. Child abuse is a basic part of the fundamentalist Christian
religion.
Dogs & children first.
DedNdogYrs
gave her to the Combses, who never legally adopted her.>
An "Christian" children's home and adoption agency. Adoption agencies are bad
enough, but a Bible thumper one is double bad. These are just a couple of
examples of "Christian" child abuse.
http://www.geocities.com/TheSadOrphan/survive/srv067.htm
and:
http://www.geocities.com/trampolineone/survive/srv272.htm
Dogs & children first.
Anne
Yeah, that update was so refreshing, that's cool how she found her biological mom!
OzzieAnnie
But did she want her new name published? The first story alluded to
it but didn't print it. Bit disturbing the update used it so freely
(why'd she bother changing it?). Maybe she gave permission?
OAnnie
BethF
"OzzieAnnie" <Long Ago and Far Away> wrote in message news:4061f9e5$0$31905
> But did she want her new name published? The first story alluded to
> it but didn't print it. Bit disturbing the update used it so freely
> (why'd she bother changing it?). Maybe she gave permission?
My impression is that she changed her name not to protect herself from the
public but to distance herself from her past life.
vivisectrix
>>(why'd she bother changing it?).
>My impression is that she changed her name not to protect herself from
>the public but to distance herself from her past life.
A lot of survivors of horrific abuse legally change our names once we're
free of our perps. It's a way to send the message to our abusers (who were
also usually the people who named us), "You don't own me anymore,
fuckwads. *I* own me now."
Vivi
--
I wanna play with a pathetic suicidal masochist. If you qualify,
or if you're just curious, you might find me on irc.bondage.com
in channel #torture.
elroj...@gmail.com
llhar...@gmail.com
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rq433_house-of-horrors-my-nightmare_school
sheilah...@gmail.com
tc...@campbell.k12.va.us
My heart has always been touched and deeply grieved by what Esther Suffered.
I recently saw this doc. on ID House of Horrors.
I am so thankful that Esther has continued to heal and live.
May she come to know the unconditional love of the true living Father.
Bless her and her family.
Tina R Cruz.
Rustburg Va.
kjv...@gmail.com
rivero...@gmail.com
kelk...@gmail.com
kelk...@gmail.com
northoakl...@gmail.com
Greg Carr
kelk...@gmail.com
> Good riddance. Thanks for the update.