Serialously with Annie Elise - 391: Part 2: She Packed Butcher Knives in Her Purse | Angelique Robledo

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

When Angelique Robledo was 18 years old and pregnant, she thought she had found a friend in another woman who seemed to be going through the same experience.But that friendship was hiding something far more sinister.In this episode, Angelique shares the terrifying story of how someone she trusted was allegedly planning to kill her and steal her unborn baby; a rare but horrifying crime known as fetal abduction.From the early red flags to the day everything changed, Angelique walks us through what happened, how she survived, and the lasting impact it’s had on her life.She also opens up about the complicated legal outcome, her experience speaking publicly about the case, and how she’s using her story today to raise awareness and help others trust their instincts.This is a story of betrayal, survival, and resilience.⚠️ Listener discretion is advised..If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow the show for weekly deep dives into the darkest true crime cases! To watch the video version of this episode, head over to youtube.com/@annieelise. .🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks..🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to both of my weekly true crime series 10 to Life & Serialously with Annie Elise wherever you get your podcasts on the Annie Elise Channel!🍎 Apple Podcasts | Where you can also unlock access to 100+ and growing extra exclusive deep dives.💚 Spotify🔴 YouTube🎙️ All Other Platforms.📸 Follow Annie on Socials Instagram: @_annieeliseTikTok: @_annieeliseSubstack: @annieeliseFacebook: @10toLife.⭐SponsorsDavid Protein: Head to Walmart today to try a bar or stock up on 4 counts of your favorite flavors, like Blueberry Pie and Salted Peanut Butter, sold exclusively at Walmart. Check out http://Walmart.com to find a store near you!Jones Road Beauty: For a limited time, head to http://jonesroadbeauty.com and use code 10tolife at checkout to get a free Shimmer Face Oil on your first purchase.Quince: Go to http://Quince.com/ae for free shipping and 365-day returns..👗 Shop Annie’s Must-Haves! ShopMY: bit.ly/AnnieElise_ShopMy Amazon: bit.ly/AnnieElise_Amazon.🫵🏻 Get Involved or Recommend a CaseAbout Annie: www.annieelise.comFor Business Inquiries: [e-mail].📚 Episode Sources Arizona Psychiatric Security Review Board | Maricopa Police Department | Pinal County Precinct 8 Justice Court | Pinal County Superior Court, Arizona ••••••••••••••••••🚨Disclaimers1️⃣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me. 2️⃣ Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. 3️⃣ The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.

Hey, true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialesley. Hey, everyone, and welcome back to part two of Angelique's story over here on Serialesly, with me, your host, Annie Elise. Now, in part one, if you're either catching up or you missed it or you just need a refresh, we walked through everything leading up to the moment we left off at. Angelique's life as a young, pregnant teenager, the relationship that she was building with her new great friend Cassandra, and how it seemed like a very normal friendship, slowly started taking a very unsettling turn. And we left off at a pretty chilling moment, too, when Cassandra had brought Angelique into her bedroom, told her to turn around for a gift, and then started counting.

One, two. Now, if you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, I highly, highly recommend going back and starting there so that you have the full context before continuing. But with that, let's pick back up right where we left off. Here is Angelique. So finally, I go, Cassandra, are you going to show me? And she goes, yes. And she puts one hand on my shoulder, on my left hand shoulder. And she leans me forward so much that my stomach is huge that I can't breathe. And she goes, one, two, three. And right when she does the three, I literally jump up off the bed. And I, The reason I jumped, though, is because something said run. Like, in my head, it said run.

And so I jumped up and I ran to my, like, ran to my light. I turned the light switch on. And I look at her and she's putting something back into the bag. And I'm like, what are you doing? And then all of a sudden, what a coincidence, her phone rings. It's whoever she's been talking to this whole day, the phone rings. And she's like, blub-da-blah-da-da. Just talking to somebody in Spanish.

And I remember sitting there looking at her and just like observing and just watching her. And she's just having a full conversation with somebody. Still on your bed. Still on my bed. The bag next to her now? Next to her. Yes. Just blah, blah, blah, just talking.

And then she's grabbing the bed. She's getting off the bed. And then she sounds like she's almost arguing with somebody. And then I literally take, I literally like I'm standing there for probably good about 30 seconds until I turn around and walk out of my room to collect myself to understand what just happens. So now I go and I sit at the table and I'm so dissociated at this point. Yeah. I'm doing, I'm just filing my nails. All I'm doing is sitting there.

I'm replaying it over and over again in my head. You stood there. She didn't give you anything. What was it? Is there something in her bag? Are you crazy? Like, you didn't take your nap today. Maybe you're delirious.

Like, maybe this isn't even actually happening. So I am fighting back and forth with myself. But I'm a very big, I'm not a true crime junkie, but I'm definitely like an SVU junkie. So I've watched a lot of like SVU where I've known. where I've known that you don't like you don't let the murderer know that you know what's going to happen. Yep.

Because if you do, you're going to make them, they're going to make a mistake, which could be, you know, it could be really bad. So I was like, in my head, I was like, okay, don't alarm her to where you think something is wrong, but also don't be stupid and not realize what's going, like what could be happening. So you know, at this point, you knew something's weird here.

Something's going on. I don't know what it is, but something's not right. Something's not right. But I will be very honest. I was also 18 years old, a teenager, and there was a part of me that did feel like, what if I'm wrong? What if I accused now this new friend who's friends with all of my friends and myself and my husband's friends?

And I have the crazy one. And I call the cops on her. Yeah. And then I look like, Angelique, all she was doing was giving you a gift. And there's a gift in there. Like, she gave me gifts earlier. Like, what would make this different? So we've already established she's weird.

Yeah. Yeah. We've already established. that she's a weird person. So like, I don't know. That part of me was in the back of my head, but it wasn't going away. So I wasn't just going into this thinking like, oh, la da da, da, da, like I'm just going to, no, that's not how I went into this. I went into this very, very smart. Yeah. So then I'm sitting there and I'm doing my nails and she comes out and she goes, my husband, that was my husband. And I was like, oh, she goes, he's going to surprise. He's

surprising me and coming down here to go to dinner with me. But I have nothing to wear. And I'm like, she's leaving. Oh, my gosh. She's leaving. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. She's not trying to kill me. Like she's going to leave. So I got so excited. So I was like, oh, you can try something on in my room. Go look at my room. I didn't even want to bring up the gift.

Like at this point, whatever you have in your bag, I don't want. Yeah. So I didn't even bring it up. I didn't want to. I was too scared to bring it up. I just knew at this moment she was going to go. Now, I don't know how in depth you want me to go. But there was another incident that happened like right after that.

So I don't know where this. So I don't know where it fits into. my story. There was a moment, and I don't know if it happened before we went into the room or if it happened after, but there was a moment that she went into the bathroom and she came out with water on her pants and tried to fake like she, like her water broke. Oh, and she told you her water broke. She's like, I don't know what's happening. And I'm sorry. Like I don't know. I don't remember if it was before or after. So like I never really tell people in interviews because I can't, I can't distinguish when it happened.

I think that's absolutely fair that you don't remember that. Hello. I mean, with everything you went through. But, okay, that's obviously a very big detail. It is because at one point she called somebody and was like, she asked me, like, she started freaking out. Like, oh, my gosh, I don't know what's happening. I was like, oh, my God. Like, did your water break?

Like, you're six, seven months pregnant. Like, this is bad. And she was like, I don't know what's going on. Will you come to the hospital with me? And I was like, yeah, like, I'll come to the hospital with you, like, whatever you need. She goes, okay. And she goes, well, let me call somebody. She goes, hey, come get us.

Okay, bye. And hangs up. Who's this person that she's calling? Yeah. And then I go, well, I need to call my mom really quick. I need to let her know what's happening. And I start to grab my phone. And she goes, wait, you need to let your mom know?

And I said, yeah, like, she's like, you're 18. I was like, yeah, but I live with my mom. Like, I got to let her know. Yeah. She goes, well, let me go make sure I to pee myself. And then she goes back into the bathroom, comes out. And she goes, false alarm. I think I might have just peed myself.

And I felt really bad. I didn't feel bad, but I had done that, like, twice. So I had been, I'm going to raise my hand with guilt that I have been the woman that I went to the hospital thinking that my, you know, water broke. And unfortunately, when they come back and say, it's not water, it's urine. And you're like, you're like, are you sure? Can you run that test again, please? So she was doing a lot of things, though, to almost like simulate that she had gone into labor. And then when you were saying, I'm going to notify my mom, she starts walking.

it back saying, oh, no, I just peed myself. Yes. Okay. So whether that happened before or after the bedroom incident, unclear, but now she's getting picked up by her husband. She needs something to wear. She's going through your closet. Yes. I want to say it happened after because I feel like her trying clothes on in my room had something to do with her leaving with her husband, but also because she had wanted to change. She wanted to change because she had water all over her. I just, and a part of my brain just doesn't remember exactly. I do just remember that, though, because I remember thinking in my head like, oh, this poor girl just pete herself in my bed and like my, my bathroom. Yeah. So I go into my room. I grab like five different outfits. I lay it out on my bed. And I'm like,

here you go. You can try all of these on whatever fits you. You can have. I don't even care. Like take it with you. Asa la vista, bye. Yeah. So she goes into her room, my room. And before she goes into my room, though, there's no reason for this. But I'm a can, I love candles. I love them. I just, you know, you feel that moment that you just want to light a candle just because. So I had gotten this new, like, little, it was like a teacup candle that like, where you put like the oil and then like it like kind goes up and let's like the fragrance or, I don't know what they're called, but you know, you visually, you can see what I'm saying. So I remember before she went into the room, I took a candle and I lit it. No reason. Just let it. And that's when I laid the clothes out. She went and tried the clothes on.

She closed the door. I went back and started, you know, filing my nails more. And then all of a sudden she comes out and she goes, what do you think about this? And I was like, oh, that dress looks great on you. Like, you can barely tell that you're even pregnant. Like, you can have it. Like, you, that would be perfect to go to dinner with. And then I start, like, as I'm talking to her, though, I start walking into my room. And when I walk into my room, I smell something weird. And I'm like, do you smell that? And she was like, what? And I was like, it smells like something's on fire. And I looked at the candle. The candle's out. But it doesn't smell like a burning candle went out. It just smells like something's on fire. And she's like, no, I don't smell that. And I'm like,

really? And I'm like, huh. So then I start looking everywhere my room. I open my closet. I'm doing this very fast. So like I open my closet, see nothing. Look under my bed, see nothing. Open my drawers. Nothing. And I'm sitting there. My brain is just like kind of going and going and going. And I'm like, what is going on right now? Like why? It smells like a fire. So then I literally go back as a test because I go and take another candle. Something inside my brain is telling me that something's wrong. And I don't know how to prove it. So I go get another candle and I light it and I see what she does. She goes, oh, is it okay if I try this other dress on? And I'm like, yeah, go ahead. But I'm very suspicious now. So she runs back into the room, closes the door. And I'm like, something's happening in that room.

So then my pantry is diagonal from my bedroom door. So I go into my pantry and I'm pretending, I'm so paranoid at this point. I'm pretending like I'm looking for chips. So I'm making noise in my pantry. And I'm like, Cassandra, do you want some chips? Do you want a snack? Are you hungry? And I'm just like leaning over, looking at my door. And I can see her shadow. And it's pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And it's just, and I'm like, she's fucking setting my house on fire. And I'm so sorry. I don't know if her allowed to cuss. No, you're fine. You're fine. So I was like, she's setting my house on fire. But nothing made sense why. And where am I getting this all from? I have no, like, where do you get from a candle? Like, it just,

it was very weird. So she opens the door. I run back in. there and I look at the candle and I go, Cassandra, why is that candle out again? And at this point, I'm pissed. Like, I'm stern. I, forgetting that she even tried, like, whatever happened, I'm just mad. Like, what is, can you explain to me? Like, what is going on? Yeah. And she goes, what do you mean? I didn't put that out. And she's like, it must have just went out. And I'm like, the fan isn't on. The AC isn't on. How does a candle just go out? And I'm like, and what is that smell? Yeah. And she's like, I don't know. I do smell it now, though. And I was like, okay. So then we start looking through my, she's looking through my room with me.

I go to my brother's room, which is right next door. I start searching his room. I don't smell anything in there. So I go back into my room. I do the same search, but I do it opposite. I open my drawers, nothing's in there. Look under the bed. Look behind the bed.

Look somewhere else. Open my closet. And everything is in flames. If you are trying to hit your protein goals, but you're like over bars that are packed with calories and sugar, let me put you on to David. David is now available at Walmart stores nationwide and also on Walmart.com, where you can try a single bar for only $2.97. Now, David's hero protein bar line has 28 grams of protein, 150 calories, and zero grams of sugar. That equates to 75% calories from protein, the highest

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All of my clothes are. Everything is just blazing. and I started screaming. Oh my God, like there's a fire. And at this point, like everything went outside of my head of what just happened, just like I need to get this fire out. And I had my cell phone. It was just a flip phone. So I took it and I pressed send, send, send, send, send, which ended up calling my best friend, Skyler. He was the last person that ever called me.

So when I call him, I'm just screaming. Call 911. My house is on fire. Please, I'm trying to put it out. Boom. I hang up. I'm running back and forth with pots and pans. I threw a pot at Cassandra.

but honestly, I don't even know what she was doing at this point. I think she was just standing there watching me. But I was running back and forth to the kitchen, filling pots of water up, throwing it on the fire. And at this point, my whole room is filled with smoke. It's hard to breathe. She can't breathe. She's coughing. I'm coughing. So I run to the garage. The garage is right next to my room. I opened the garage door and I go back inside my room, grab her by her collar, and I drag her outside. And smoke just starts rolling out of my house. So at this point, all you see, see is like black smoke just rolling out of the garage. And Skyler had gotten there first before the paramedic. Skylo lived like three minutes away from me. So he had gotten there first before the

paramedics, before the firefighters, before anybody came. And right when she came out, right when we both came out, he pulled up with his mom and his little brother. And she just like took off running down the street barefoot. Nobody knows why. Wow. Nobody knows what. That's the markings of an innocent person. That's what I'm saying. And he goes, what? And I go, just let her go. Yeah. Just let her go. And he's like, what is, what's going on? Did she have the big diaper bag with her when she took off on foot? I'm going to be honest. I have no idea. We've never been able to, I'll say like it's a very weird thing that she did, but we've never been able to understand, like, why. Like, nobody found anything. The police, like, went and

looked in the bushes that she would, nobody could find anything. So I don't know if she called somebody. Yeah. So I don't know, that part I don't know of. But, like, it was just a very weird thing. But it was a moment for me to talk to Skyler by myself. So, like, Skyler's mom runs back inside my house just to make sure the fire is out. And I pull Skyler aside. And he's like, what? I was like, just let her go. Let her go. I don't know what's happening. And he's like, Anglic, like, what is going on? And I'm like, can I tell you something without you like thinking different or judging me? And he's like, yeah. And I said, all right, I think she was trying to kill me. I think she was going to stab me. I'm not exactly sure why. I think she set my house on fire.

I think she's jealous of me. I don't know what's happening, Skyler. But that's literally how I'm telling him. I'm telling him so fast that his brain can't even comprehend what I'm saying. And he's looking at me like I'm crazy. And I'm like, yeah, I'm never going to say this to anybody again. I'm never going to tell anybody what I just said because the way he's looking at me is like I have 10 heads. And he goes, I go, do you believe me, right? And he goes, I want to believe you. But like, why would she, like, this doesn't make any sense.

Like, are you, like, are you sure this is what happened? Like, he was even questioning, like, what I was saying. And I was just like, maybe I'm, maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe this didn't happen. Maybe I'm delirious. Like maybe there's something wrong with me. And I'm like, God. So at that point, I start having contractions.

So now after I told him, Cassandra came back. So she did come back. And now the paramedics are there. The firefighters. The police are there. My parents pull up and the fire restarted. So the cops, firefighters are back in there trying to figure out what's happening. I hear them talking about like a battery that may have exploded.

So in my head, I'm like, maybe she didn't start this fire. Like, maybe this is all just like there's a, there's something like they're going to figure out. Like, they're fire investigators in there. They're going to figure out what happened. Yeah. So I'm like, okay, like, let everyone do their job. Let me just go ahead and worry about myself because at this point I'm in like labor because I just, the smoke made us have contractions. And I say us because she started having contractions.

So her and I are both being treated by paramedics. And my mom comes over to me and she's like, hey, like, how are you feeling? Like, how did this happen? And I'm like, I don't, I don't know. Just let them figure out what happened. And I go, and Cassandra's like crying. She's like, oh my gosh. Like, she's in so much pain and she's crying.

And I go, Mom, just go to her. Like, go to her. I have Skyler. So my mom goes over and starts, like, holding her hand. And the paramedics are getting information from her. And this is where my mom started to catch on to things because everything she was telling the paramedics was different than what she told us. Like, her name was Cassandra Taruga.

But she said her name was like, Marie Taruga or something. She was like giving different like names, different addresses, different age, different how many months she was. Like everything wasn't adding up to what she told us earlier that day. So my mom was like, weren't you like six, seven months pregnant? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean I was five. I was, I'm like seven. So like there were certain things that my mom was like sitting there starting to like hear these. Yeah. And I'm sitting there just like trying to breathe. I have like a mask on. And I told Skyler not to tell anybody. But of course, like we're teenagers. He ends up telling his mom. His mom tells my parents. This is all happening while we're

outside. Like it's just like a, you know, everyone's whispering. And all of a sudden my mom, my dad and Skyler's mom all give me like a look. And I'm like, did you tell them? And he goes, Angelique, I had to. Things are weird. Like I'm feeling weird about this. Like, God forbid if this actually is real and she tried to kill you. Like somebody has to help us. And I look at him and I just do a big sigh of relief. Like, thank you. Like, I couldn't say it. So then I get up because I'm feeling better. She's still crying. And she's also talking on the phone with somebody saying, yeah, Angeloaglia, what hospital are you going to go to? Can I go to the same hospital she goes to? And I'm like, don't let her go near me, please. And so I go back inside the house because my

parents are like, what is happening? And I'm like, okay, so I do the same thing I did to Skylar. And I'm like, I think she was going to kill me. She put me in my room. She put me in the middle of the kitchen, then she put me in my room. Something told me she was going to kill me, and I'm like trying to explain to them. And I can tell they, just like Skyler, they all want to understand and they all want to believe me, but I look like I'm hysterical at this point. And the paramedics go, okay, we're taking her to the hospital. We're just grabbing her belonging. So they start grabbing all my clothes. And I'm like, no, no, no, those are mine. I go, this is all hers. And I grab the bag and I give them the bag. And I give them the bag. And as I'm handing them the bag, I take it back. And I go, wait,

there was a gift in here and I put it on top of the counter so everybody could see and I'm explaining she said she had this gift it shined on the ceiling it said she said it had Ryland's name on it and I'm like talking and I'm taught I'm opening it I put my hands in and literally all I feel is metal and when I pull my hand out I have two large butcher knives in my hand and I dropped them on the counter and I said I told you she was going to kill me oh my god and then I go into like this weird I kept saying the same thing over and over and over. I told you she was going to kill me. I told you she was going to kill me.

And I just kept saying that. It was like for like an hour straight. I was like in this trance and I couldn't stop. And I was just, I was staring at a wall crying. Yeah. And at that point they had already got her into the ambulance. So there was no like going like once medically wise, like once you get into an ambulance, like there's no, they're going to take you to the hospital.

Yeah. And then if they're going to have law enforcement, they'll send them there. Exactly. Yeah. So that ends up. happening and they take her. And at this point, now my street has been shut down as an attempt of murder scene. So now nobody can get in and nobody can get out. Was there anything else in the bag besides the two butcher knives? There was disinfectant. There was scissors and there was a newborn

diaper. Wow. Wow. Yeah, it gives you chills. Like I literally have the chills. I can't even imagine what was going through your mind when you had that. It was, it was surreal. It really was. And even my mom, like, she'll sit there and she was just like, nobody's brains could understand, like, what was happening. And to be quite honest, even with all the evidence in front of me, I still didn't understand, like, why. Like, I didn't put two and two together that she wanted to take my baby. I didn't know. She just wanted to kill you. I just thought she wanted to kill me.

So what was your mom's reaction as you were pulling the stuff out of the bag? Was she kind of like, what? But the pair, I think, I don't think the cops were there when I pulled it out. it was the paramedics. My mom's crazy. She runs out with the butcher knives and the bag into like, she runs outside because that's where everybody's at. And she goes, this was in her bag.

And she's like holding two large butcher knives. And I'm like, so the cops are like, what are you doing? And she's like, no. Put down the knife lady. Yes. My mom's like, this was in my, in her bag. So my mom is like screaming. And I was, I just stayed stuck in the house, like staring at a wall.

Yeah. I do remember they tried to call Josh and Josh was at a friend's house. So he had, I think he was drinking too because when he had to get a ride and I remember they wouldn't let him in. So it took two and a half hours for them to allow Josh to even come back because everything was shut down. Nobody in, nobody in, nobody out. And so finally they let him in. And by the time he got to me, I was still just staring at a wall. Like I wasn't talking. I wasn't doing anything. I wasn't taught. Literally the detectives tried to talk to me and I was just silent. I wouldn't talk to anybody. And then finally, like when he came, I felt like a sense of, like, relief. And so I hugged him.

And then I like snapped out of it. It's like I snapped out of whatever funk I was in. And I was like, let me talk to the detective. And so I start talking to the detective. And what sucks about it is like, remember, this is going to be like where we talked about how this detective knew me from my younger childhood and has arrested me plenty of times to the point where she was questioning me. Yeah. Are you sure that's what happened? Yeah. Are you positive? Do you think maybe the fire started because you were smoking weed in your room? Oh my gosh. Are you, you don't smoke weed still? Because I do recall you, you know, me arresting you for smoking weed.

Like, and the thing is, is I didn't even remember any of that until I got a hold of my interrogation tapes and I listened to the whole thing. I thought that they, my brain wanted to think that they were on my side. Of course. But they were like making jokes. Like I've listened to my own tape and here I can hear myself like I'm, I'm stuck. uttering. I'm scared. I'm laughing because I'm giggling because I'm nervous, but they're making me feel so uncomfortable throughout the whole investigation where they're just, because I'm being questioned. Like I did something wrong. And I just remember, you know, the fire investigators were in there. They were able to find the teacup candles. They ran fingerprints. Her fingerprints were on both teacup candles, which they shouldn't have been if she didn't touch them. So she did use the teacup

candles to light the fire in my room. And I don't, they do have some type of report that explains like how it happened. I don't exactly understand or know how it did. Something with the candle wax, something when she lit it, I think she may have lit my computer and it exploded. I'm not really something. Something created this boom, because remember the first time I looked in the closet, there was nothing. There was, though. They said it was a slow fire. Oh, okay. And whatever she did the second time, it amplified it. And so that's what caused for the fire. Because like, it was like a maybe like four or five minute, like in between that. So between that five minutes, like that, the flames were everywhere. Everything in my closet was burned down. My mom's wedding dress that I wanted to wear when I

got married. Like I lost everything in that closet. Yeah. Which for me was a lot because that's like, of course. That's where everything was. Yeah. So as the detectives and the fire investigators are all now working together, realizing like what really happened, she's transported to the hospital and what happens from there? So she was transported to the hospital and from my understanding, she said she was pregnant. They ran a pregnancy test. She wasn't. And I think when they like confronted her about it, she ran. So like she left the hospital. Okay. So when the detective. So she was never pregnant. She was never pregnant. She just faked the whole thing. She faked the whole pregnancy. Okay. Was she wearing a fake belly or anything like that? No, she, she was a very, very skinny girl. She was probably about like five, eight. So she was a little bit

taller. She had really large hips and she had a really nice figure, to be quite honest. She had big hips and a big butt, but super, super tiny. So she would always like lean like this and she would constantly go like that. So like a belly would kind of be there. But my mom told me, because I remember I asked too, you know, she doesn't look that pregnant though. Like she doesn't look six or seven months. I'm almost like women carry differently. Like there's some women that even don't even. You never see it. You never see it. Yeah. And I didn't show because I was, you know, coming off drugs, I didn't show till I was like six months. Like I didn't actually, I was trying to gain all that weight back.

So it made sense. But yeah, no, everybody just thought that she was pregnant. Yeah. And because she told everybody for months that she was. Yeah. So she takes this test. She's not pregnant. She flees the hospital.

And what happens then? The next day I find out that she left the hospital and I was not okay with everything. I woke up feeling terrified because now it's like, somebody had to tell me that like this was a plan to take baby. So like my mom ended up having to be the one to like kind of reel me in and make me understand. Like, Angelique, I don't think this was about killing you. I think this was about your bait. I think this was about Rylund. Like I think she was going to take Rylund. And then it all started to like, it was like a full circle where I was like, this happened, that happened. I was like, oh my God, like I think you're right. Like it made more sense like the C-section talk, all of that.

Yeah. So then one thing about me is I'm a really good investigator, really good. It's actually ridiculous. So I take things into my own hands because I don't think the cops are taking me seriously. So I end up finding information about her that other people didn't, like that the cops didn't even find. Like, I found out that she was a runaway from years ago and they said she was a danger to herself into society. She was schizophrenic, manic depressive, bipolar. And at this time, it was called multi-personality syndrome, but now it's called D-I-D, which I think because it was really hard to diagnose. multi-personality syndrome. It was something along the lines, but it was in the news. I found like an article and like the fact that they didn't find any of this was crazy. And what makes this

even wilder is that she, I found out, I found a picture of her where she was in a picture with somebody that I knew from middle school. So I had to remember where did I know this girl from middle school? Or I don't think she went to school with us, but she lived in Chandler. Like, where do I know her from? And it was from one of my ex-boyfriends, Chris. He had dated her. So now I'm calling Chris. Chris, what was that girl's name? This is her picture. Oh, that's Maddie. Okay, where does Maddie live? She lives in Chandler. Okay, can I have her number? Can I have her Facebook? Like, he gives me her information. I call her and I just load it all on her. I know you but something happened. There's a girl in the picture with you. Her name is Cassandra Taruga.

I think she tried to hurt me. Can you please help me? Like, how do you know this girl? And she was like, what happened? And I was like, she came to my house with butcher knives. Like I'm kind of word vomiting. Yeah. And she goes, that's my cousin. And I'm like, your cousin? She goes, that is my cousin. And I'm like, okay, I'm so sorry. Like I didn't, like now I feel like I stepped into a territory like where I'm talking to family and like that can't be good. But she was like, no, she's like, I believe you. And I was like, wait, what? She goes, I believe you. And I was like, why? She goes, because Cassandra is not like mentally, first off, she's not like a mentally stable person. She also has a lot of things in her life like that

happened. Like, she kind of, she didn't really go into detail. She just said, like, I believe you. And she goes, I go, does she actually have a sister that lives out here? She goes, no, she does. She's like, but the sister is out of the country right now. So she has no idea what's going on. So the sister hasn't been home. Then I said, does she have a brother? Yeah, she has a brother, but he doesn't live here. What do you mean he doesn't live here? She got dropped off by her Yeah. Who was it that dropped her off? Right. Because my brother saw a man in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the van. Oh, the van. The white van. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, all of these things where I was kind of trying to understand and not really knowing

what was happening. Then, look, I give all the information to the cops. I give them Mardi's phone number. I give them the sister's address. I give them everything. And they're like, wow, how did you find all of this? I'm like, I did a little research. Thank you.

That's what I'm like, I don't know, a quick, you know, Google search. Yeah. Gosh. So then what have, was she ever arrested? No. After that, I actually got brought down to the police station and they asked me if I would be willing to call her because at this point they said they don't no one's explained to her that we found the butcher she doesn't know any of this so we're a step ahead of her now they're starting to believe me

yeah so now they're like can you come down to the police station and we put a like we put a wire on you and we'll have you call and pretend like you have no idea what's going on and we need you to get her to admit that she was in your room before the fire started and I'm like okay and I'm like do I like do I have to think this would really help our investigation like I think she'll trust you and I'm like, okay, so I get brought down to the station. They hook me up and they have me call. So I call and I'm like, hey, Cassandra. And she's like, hi. And I'm like, what happened the other night? Like, how are you feeling? I heard you went to the hospital. Like, are you okay? And she was like, oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. And I was like, okay. She's like, what about you? And I'm like, no, I'm good. I'm good. Like, you know, the contractions stopped. I said, you know, I was just more worried about you. And I was like, this whole thing is crazy. And they're like, yeah, they wrote down questions for me to like ask. which are all like in the police report, which I found. It's like all these questions that they wanted me to ask. And so I had, I was supposed to narrow down her being in the room alone. So then I had to go into like, this is crazy. Like how did that fire start? I don't know how that fire started.

Then I was like, they told me that you said we were smoking weed in my room. Like that's all, like, we weren't smoking weed. She goes, I would never say that. And I'm like, okay. And I'm like, well, you were in the room though, right? Like before the fire started, like you were physically there by yourself and then she was like, yeah. And then all of a sudden you hear, don't talk to them, like a man's voice, get off the phone and then click. Oh, wow. And then that was it. That was the last time I ever talked to her. But I was able to give them, like they were able to at least get that to, I think, to kind of not put me, because she said that we were smoking weed and that we asked in like my closet or something. And I'm like, girl, I'm nine months pregnant.

Like what you mean? So that's what she told them and that's why they were questioning me about it. And so I just had to get them to like understand that it wasn't me. So after that, I end up going into labor. I find out I have preeclampsia and I am in the hospital for like seven days. My room is shut. Like basically I'm put down as Jane Doe. Police are outside my room. Nobody can come in unless they have like a special code. And then they knew that there was such a danger and a risk there. Why wasn't she arrested for anything? So they couldn't find her after she left the hospital. Nobody knew where she was at. Okay. So, nobody could find out where she was. The sister was in different country. Different country.

Nobody knew. And so, and I remember when I went into the hospital, I didn't talk to the cops at all. Like, there was a cop stationed outside of, like, my door. But, like, I never, I'd never talk to anybody. And I think it was just best that way. I ended up going through a really traumatic birth. Like, that ended with me, you know, I ended up, like, bleeding out and passed out in the bathroom in a puddle of my own blood. Oh my gosh. And I had to have, like, a blood transfusion. And Ryland, you know, when Ryland was, like, when I was giving birth to him. like he was faced the opposite way so his heart rate was dropped. Like it was a very honestly traumatic birth and they were trying really hard not to give me a C-section because of what I went through. Yeah. But like we both came out with infections. My water broke too early. Like there was a lot.

So yeah, it was a lot on my body and on my myself. So by the time I gave birth, it was February 26. So 10 days from the incident, I was released from the hospital about four or five days later. So I went home and I just had nightmares like for days like and I I didn't leave my house like I stayed literally on a couch for like days and days and days because I was scared. I was terrified. Now I have this baby that she wanted like what's going to happen. And then I think it was March 4th. I think it was March 4th or March 5th in the middle of the night. It was like midnight. My mom came into my room and she was waking me up and I was like what? She was like, it's Detective Turner. And I was like, okay, so I get on the phone and she goes, we have her. And I'm like, what? So then I start to wake up. And I'm like, what do you mean?

She's like, we have her. And I'm like, Cassandra? And she's like, yes. And she's like, we have the confession. She confessed everything. She was going to kill you perform a C-section. The fire was never meant to be a part of this. But it played a role. So like when she couldn't kill you the first time because you turned around, she was hoping that the fire was going to like overcome you with smoke and you would pass out. And then she'd be able to perform the C-section and let the body burn with all. the evidence. Oh my God. It was a very diabolical plan, specifically because the fire was never meant to be a part of it. She just was trying to improvise at that point. She was trying to improvise. What was it like hearing that and getting the validation, but also hearing the details of what she was planning?

I slept for the first time that night. Wow. I slept for the first time that night without waking up. And it was a really, I felt like I wasn't crazy because I felt like everybody thought I was crazy. I'll be quite honest with you. My not so close friends, like people, just acquaintances that were finding out, thought I was attention seeking, that I was lying. I had family members that didn't even check on me, didn't care, thought I was just exaggerating the whole thing. So there was a moment where I wondered, like, am I? And as time goes by, I was like, it wasn't really that bad. Right, because everything, you become a little bit desensitized to it and you look back and you don't remember that feeling in the moment. And so it's easy to be like, was I overreacting? Maybe I was,

yeah, I totally understand what you mean. So then the next day it came out on the news nationwide. And that's when all the I'm sorrys came. That's when all the I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry that you went through this alone. Like, it sucked. Have you ever heard her confession?

Unfortunately, the first time I ever heard it was on the ID channel and they didn't tell me. So when it aired, that was my first time ever hearing her confession. and I vomited because I had never, nobody had ever given me the opportunity to listen to it. My case was handled, it was handled very incorrectly. I didn't get a lot of tools. I didn't get anything. Wow. So it was, I felt like when I heard it on the ID channel, though, it was very eerie.

And it's also like the ID channel, you know, puts like a little bit of dramatic, like music behind it and stuff. But I remember sitting there watching the ID channel of like the episode and then all of a sudden it goes, they play acting. in it and stuff. It was called frenemies. And so, like, it was, like, actresses that are playing like me and Cassandra. And then all of a sudden at the end, it says actual footage. And, like, it's her voice. And she's like, I was just going to stab her just a couple of times. I wasn't trying to kill. But if that's what I had to do, then yeah, I guess I was going to have to. Wow. Oh, my God. So, but then the most frustrating part in all of this, she didn't end up getting charged with attempted murder, correct? That is correct. And can you explain why that happened?

So despite a confession, the knives, the equipment, like everything. Fingerprints. Fingerprints. Everything. She was not charged with attempted murder. Also, one thing I did want to say was the only reason they caught her. So I did find out the only reason they caught her was because Marty called the sister when she came back into the country and said, you need to, I need to tell you what's been happening since you've been gone. And when her sister heard, she called 911 and said, come get my sister. She's here at the house. Good. So that the sister was the reason why I was able, like, why we were able to even get her. Now, during the whole legal process, it was, I don't remember talking to one person. It was like a whole year had went by and I just dissociated the whole year

because I was trying to learn to be a new mom. And what sucks about this is that like, you're a mom. You know, your first, you know, you have your first baby. You have all these like moments that you think like that things are going to happen. As a first mom, you're like, oh, I'm going to give birth this way. This is what's going to happen. You're going to come home in this. We're going to do this. You're going to you know, you plan out like what this is all going to look like. I didn't get that. I feel like, if anything, she took that away from me because I was in so much pain. She did. And I didn't know how to even parent at that point. Like, I was just happy that like I had this miracle. But she took everything. She took my birth away from me. She took my son's first year from me. Like I just

associated throughout the whole thing. I don't remember his first steps. I don't remember what his first baby food was. I don't remember what his first word was because I was just trying to survive. And so I do remember not talking to everybody. I've talked to, I'm talking to one person at all. And I remember asking my parents, like, had anyone ever called us? Like, I know I was in like a such, like, such like an association at that, at that point, like, did anything happen that I don't remember? And my parents said they don't remember anybody ever, like, trying to contact us until January. I have been doing a little spring reset with my closet lately, you know, focusing on more quality over quantity, just building out a wardrobe of pieces that are actually well made and versatile

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And a year had went by and they finally called and stated that they wanted to talk about a plea bargain. And I was like, wait, why? I was like, what? Why would you do that if you have a confession? You have this. You have everything. You have a plea bargain. Yeah.

Exactly. I was like, I don't get it. Like, why is this not a strong enough case? And they said, well, our biggest part of the case was the confession. And I was like, okay. And they were like, the cops didn't read her Miranda rights at the time of her confession. So that has been thrown out. Oh, my God.

And as of right now, it's not illegal to carry two butcher knives in the state of Arizona. You can care. I said, so I can walk down the street with knives and nobody was saying. They said technically yes. So because the cops didn't do their job with reading her, the Miranda rights, the confession is basically null and void. There's no other evidence that proves that there was attempted murder happening. There was, yeah, the fire incident.

But you can't use her confession. she's probably not going to reconfess, I would imagine. And so what were they able to charge her with? Arson. They scared me into a plea bargain, though, because they said, we can go to trial if that's what you want. They said, but there's a very – They were able to show the confession. They said there's a very high chance that she'll walk.

They said, so what we're presenting to you is seven and a half years, technically eight and a half with her time served because she's been in there for a year. But we're going to – they did give me the option. They said, we're going to give you the option. if you want to send her to prison or if you want to send her to Ash, which is called the Arizona State Hospital. Okay. And so they gave me a few days to think about it and I came back with my decision and it was a really tough one. But at this point, I had been presented that she was mentally ill, that she had all these different, you know, things going on and that, you know, I knew that one day she would get out and I didn't want her to reoffend it to anybody.

So I wanted her to get the help that she needed. So when I came back, I said, I want to send her to Ash so that she can get the proper medication, get her life back. And when she gets released, she doesn't do this to anybody again. So that's where I sent her. I have to say, I am blown away by, like, the way you're able to rationalize things and think things through at such a young age. Honestly, it's like making me emotional thinking about it. No, because even how you had said when you had found out you were pregnant that within 24 hours, you decided you wanted to get clean. And be honest, a good path and be there for your child and then now having the compassion for somebody and their mental well-being and being like, I'd rather her not re-offend in the future. Whereas if it were me, even still today, I'd probably like throw her in prison, the hardest one you possibly could. Put her in Alcatraz. Like, throw away the key. But to like be that young and have such compassion

to be like, I don't want her to re-offend and I want her to get the help that she needs. That is so incredibly big of you. It really is. And you, if you're not, you should absolutely be proud of yourself for that. because I don't think a lot of people would have made that choice. I found that out a lot on social media where people are like, you're not saying that I'm too nice because they didn't say that. They said the same thing that you said. Like the fact that you were that age and even going through a trauma, you rationalized like that type of way.

And you don't want her to reoffend and hurt somebody else. You're not even thinking about yourself and your own vindication and the consequences for what she did to you, but you're forward thinking being like, I don't want somebody else to go through this. And that is a huge, huge thing. Thank you. I really appreciate that. That's something that I really do.

And it's really nice hearing, like, someone say that just because, like, when I go to a lot of places, like, I don't really talk about it too much. So thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, of course. It was, it was. I felt proud about that moment. I was able to go to court after. And, like, they gave me the opportunity to, like, talk on my own behalf.

And I wrote this long letter. And I remember it took me forever to talk because I kept crying. Every single time I studied that letter, you know, when you're going to go watch a perpetrator get, you know, sentenced, you're like, okay, let me just, you know, read this to everybody, my family, my mom, my dad, everybody. And I was like, yes, I got this. The minute I stepped in that courtroom, it was like, mm-b-uh. Of course, yes, like all the emotions came back. And did you see her? I did see her.

I read her what I stated in at the very end. I stated, you know, that I forgave her because I don't want to have hatred in my heart. I don't want to live my life hating somebody for somebody that was mentally ill or somebody that made a mistake. And, you know, I said, like, you know, I don't like you. I don't like you. Every bone in my body tells me to hate you. And I said, but I refuse to allow myself to have hatred. And I said, I hope that you take what I'm doing to you by sending you to Ash. I hope you remember in the back of your mind when you're released that I did that, that I showed compassion and love and understanding and forgiveness because you're not going to see that from a lot of people. So like take that and. please like do better. And I remember the judge looking at her and telling her like, Cassandra, this is now your opportunity to talk. Do you have anything that you want to say to this young woman? And she stood up, looked at me, looked at the judge and said, no, your honor, and sat back down. You're like, I take it all back, send her to max. That's what I would have. I'm like, fuck that. Let's take that all back.

Send her to the chair. I literally was, I remember like my brain was like, are you for real? Yes. The judge even said, again, Cassandra, I'm going to repeat this one more time. This is your last time you will ever see this woman. Do you have anything that you want to say? No. Wow.

It was, and the way that she did it, dude, it was so, it was the most eerie moment, even more than her confession. It was the, it was the smirk. Yeah. It was the. No remorse. No remorse. And that made me feel like, that made me feel like shit because I was just like, I just poured my heart out. I just poured my heart out to you. I, I can't believe that. Oh my God. So I remember walking out of

there, I was just like, I am so happy this is over, but like, this is crazy. And I remember giving my, like giving, I remember being outside. The news reporters were out there. It was like lights flashing everywhere. And they were like, what did you say. What did you do? What did you do? Blah, blah, blah. And I was like, here you go. Here's a letter. Yeah. Analyze it. Do what you want to do with it. This is what I said. I'm done. I'm done. we're done. I'm happy this is over. I'm going to go be a mom to my son and hopefully she gets better. And like that was the, that was like the end of it, I mean, for the most part. Yeah. Until I went back home because Florence is like a good hour away from us. So that's like where all this was done. I live in Maricopa. And so when I got back home, like news reporters were outside of my house. Like everybody wanted to have an interview with me. And I just stayed isolated for like, after like two weeks, it kind of just like slowed. Everybody kind of left me alone.

So she went to Ash for what was it, seven and a half more years. years. Yes. So her date of released, she went February something. I don't remember what it was, but her release was August, like first or something, which equal like seven and a half years from that sentence. So technically, technically eight and a half, though, because she served the one year. And what year was that? 2011 is when it happened. So she's out. She's out. She's been out. She's been out. Have you had, did you know anything about where she's at, what she's doing? I went to her release. Oh, okay. And what was that like? That was very interesting. I wasn't going to,

ago. I was in 2019. I had like forgotten that like she was going to be released. I became a surrogate. So. Oh my gosh. That's incredible. Thank you. Thank you. I really wanted to find some sense of like purpose of like me allowing somebody like to have. It felt very therapeutic. I had originally done it because one of my best friends couldn't have a baby and I watched her have miscarriage after miscarriage and it broke my heart. So we always joked around that like after I was done having kids, I'd be her surrogate. ended up having a baby. It was a man. It wasn't her. After I was done having my own kids, I was like, I still want to do this. Like, I feel like this would be such a great purpose in life, like to be able to give somebody

something that they can't have because, remember, I'm under the terms that Cassandra can't have, like, she had, they tried giving me this story that she had, like, hysterical pregnancies and she couldn't have babies. This is why her brain, you know, she thought I was carrying her child. Like, they had painted this whole picture that, like, she was a woman who just couldn't have a baby and just lingered on to me and thought I was carrying her. So I was like, you know, there's women out here that can't have their own children. Like if I could have a baby for somebody with their DNA and give it to them, like, I don't know, like it feels like a sense of healing. And so I did it.

And I ended up being pregnant. And so I wasn't going to, I was pregnant with a surrogacy baby. When you were pregnant at her release? Yes. Oh my gosh. Yes. And I didn't, I didn't anticipate that happening because we had failed to like a transfer prior. So I should have like probably had given birth at that time.

But instead I was going through the pregnancy. And so I told myself I wasn't going to go. I literally called me, do you want to come? No, I don't want to go. I'll listen. But then three days before I had decided that like, no, that's not who I am. Like that's not who I am. I'm going to go there.

This is going to be a sense of empowerment. This is me taking my story back. This is me taking everything back and like owner. I don't know. I felt like a certain way like I had to be there. So three days prior I called them and I was, I don't know who I called. But I was like, I'm going. I'm going to bring my dad and my husband and like we're all going to go.

And so we went. We went to Ash. It looked like a prison. It was kind of scary. It was kind of scary in there. I'd be quite honest. Because there's a lot of mental, I don't want to say mentally insane. Well, yeah, it would be mentally unstable and struggling people. Absolutely. That is a scary situation to be in. It is because, like, I was walking by and, like, they were outside and, like, I could tell they were having, like, some type of, like, recess area. And it was just, it was scary. So when I got in there, it was just like a prison, though, like, you go in there, you know, they take your bags. You get, you know, they check you and everything. And then you sit in this little courtroom. And you can hear everybody's case because there's a bunch of people that have these cases that day. So then Cassandra, this lady who's been, like, helping me and prepping me through everything comes and sits next to me. I don't remember her name. But she was there during the trial. So she had known. me and like, she was a part of it. She was a part of it. So she came there and she was like, you know, do you want to speak? Like you don't have to. You can, you don't, like, you can just watch, like whatever you want. And I was like, no, I came here. I want to speak. And I don't know what I'm going to say. I went there with nothing. Like no paper just went there to pour my heart out. And to essentially, I wanted in Ash, the way that it works is like, if they believe she's still mentally unstable, they can keep her. And I don't believe that she was mentally stable.

Every six months in Ash, they do a reporting where they do like they bring her upon the board. And she's supposed to be presented with what medication she has. If it's working, what's not working. I stay on top of all of those. So every six months, I get all that stuff. And not once has it ever lasted longer than like 15 seconds. Wow. Because she's mentally not stable.

Oh my gosh. So the goal was that if she was, if they ever did deem that she was mentally stable within her sentencing, she would spend the rest of it in prison. That was our plea agreement. So every time six months came, she would go upon the board. They say she's mentally unstable. None of the medications working. Let's try something different.

So that kept happening, kept happening. And then magically, like two months before her release, she's magically better. And I was like, no, she is not better. You can't, like, that is some bullshit. Like, you're not going to tell me that she's better. She's not. Like, just three months ago, you guys deemed that she wasn't. Or she was faking being unwell the whole time so that she wouldn't have to spend the remainder of her sentence in prison.

Exactly. Yeah. That's what I was convinced. Very manipulative. So I went there with like, no, I'm not here to cry. I'm here to fight because I'm not going to, I'll be damned if she's going to not hear what I have to say. And I'm not going to be damned if I'm not going to fight for mine and my son's safety.

Yep. So I went there and I was, I was pissed. So I went upon, I was mad. And then I looked at her and I felt like a gummy bear. I was like, hmm. Oh, no. So I had to like take a second turn around. I was like, can I please not look at the, like, look at my perpetrated.

can I please turn around. So like I turned around and talked. And then when in the middle of me talking, I don't remember exactly what I said, but I was very passionate, very passionate. When I felt comfortable enough, then I turned around. And I said, I'm not scared of you. And I want you to realize that. I am not scared of you, but I have a son that I need to protect.

And like what you did is not okay. And you sitting there thinking that you're better when you're not is not okay. Like, you know, you may have everybody else fooled, but you don't have me fooled. And I looked at the, you know, the people like the panel of, I don't know what they're called because it wouldn't there was like five or six of them to people who are responsible for the decision yes and I remember looking at them and I said like I looked at the woman and I said could you imagine being pregnant and I was having your baby cut out of you like could you imagine this I said but the thing is is that she's not in there for that she's in there for arson but it did matter like

that matter it's context it's about it and so I do remember when they were about to make their decision the lady like they all started like making their decisions and the lady stood up And she goes, did you guys all not hear what this young woman has said? Did you guys not see how much courage she had to stand in front of us and say this? I don't agree. I'm calling a recess. We need to go to the back and talk. Oh, my gosh.

It was so crazy. The lady that I was with goes, I have worked here for so long and I've never seen that happened before. This has never happened. She goes, they've never went to the back to go talk or, you know, whatever. And so they did like a 30-minute recess. And I remember going into the bathroom. And I was like about to vomit.

And I had a full on panic attack. Like I couldn't breathe. I was literally like holding onto the sink. And I remember screaming on the top of my lungs because it just everything hurt. Everything hurt inside of me. And I was pregnant. I was pregnant too. So it was just like a whole surreal moment.

And when I went back in, she was outvoted. And she still fought for me though. So they were released her with nothing. Just go out, live your life. Figure out your life. Yeah, figure out your life. no, nothing, like nobody's going to check on you. Nobody's going to make sure you're taking your medication. But the lady, whoever it was, that lady was, she was able to get them to at least

allow, like for somebody to check on her. She had, like, now she had stipulations when she got out, like that she had to go to some type of counseling and they had to make sure she was taking her medication, which was only going to go on for a year, but it was better than nothing. She had fought as hard as she could have fought for me, and that meant a lot. So Cassandra's out right now. And you don't know what she's doing. doing or where she's at, have you followed along closely to try to, like, keep tabs on her? People have told me things about her. So she lives, like, an hour away from me.

That's way too close for comfort. Way too close for comfort. She lives, like, very, very close to, like, my brother-in-law, like, not even, like, six or seven minutes away from his house. And I know where she works. Like, I know all these certain things about her, but I just don't, like, I don't poke the bear. I don't tell people where she is.

I don't, I just feel like, because I, like, when I started to become more public on, like, you know, TikTok and Instagram and telling my story and explaining my story and explaining things, it got kind of scary because I don't want her to try to come back after me or be upset. Let me just stay in my bubble. You stay away from me. I'm living my life. Exactly. And I never say anything bad. And I always say that. Like, I'm not going to, I'm not going to say anything bad about her. All I'm going to do is tell you guys the truth about what happened. Because this is not her story. This is mine. And I am allowed to take control of my own story and tell it how it did happen. Not even how I think it happened. It happened like this. Yeah. And so, you know,

I don't want, she could be mad about it. But, you know, she hasn't came up to me. She's had, like, family members have. And her family members have come to you? Her husband's family members, because they didn't, she got married. And that's a whole other dynamic. Like, I heard that she got married. She had a baby. The baby got taken away by CPS. And the family members all found me because she had not told her husband or any of their family that she was in Ash for what she was in there for. So things started, when I started becoming more public, they were like, is this true? And I'm like, It's true. And I said, they're like, can you talk to her husband? I said, absolutely not. Yeah, no way. I will not do that. I said, if her husband wants to watch my stuff, which I'm sure she has watched, he is more than welcome to. He can get the story. Exactly. But I will not talk and I will not tell him anything because I will not be the reason why anything happens in her life. That's she, this is her consequences of what she did. And I don't want to be involved. Did you ever find out who she was on the phone with that day, calling back and forth? So right after sentencing, I don't know if you ever followed.

In 2020, do you remember when Save Our Children's came out? Yeah. So hashtag Save Our Children's came out. Right before that happened, I had gone to the release and then I decided, you know what, I don't know anything about my case. I know nothing about it. I never wanted to. I do remember, though, I did an article within Maricopa, which is just like my local, like,

newspaper. And I remember, like, I was telling, like, we just did like a brief article when the ID channel was coming out. And he had grabbed the police report in some of the interrogation. tapes. And he had told me, and he gave it to me, the police report, and said, when you're ready one day, you should read this. He says, because I think you relied to. He says, I don't think you know your story the way that you think you know it. And I was like, excuse me? Like, I was insulted. Like, what do you mean? I don't know my story. He's like, I wrote this how you wanted. He said,

but I want you to know, like, there's stuff in here that you don't know about. And you want know what I did with it? I shredded it. Oh, my God. I didn't want to know. Yeah. But that always stayed with me. So when she got released, it brought all those. wounds back up. And I was like, you know what, I'm ready. Like, I feel like I'm in, I just watched her get released. Like, I feel like I'm in a point in, like, to have my life where I can do this. Yeah. So I went down to the police station. I grabbed everything. I said, I want everything on my case. I want the police report. I want the interrogation tapes. I want anything you can give me to get me to understand. So they released everything to me. And I went down. It was,

her confession, interrogation tape is like three hours. And I didn't have a CD player in my house. So I had to put it in my car. So I drove around my town for three hours. Oh my gosh. Listening to her talk about what she had like just like obviously they ask, you know, certain questions. But she like bullshitted through the whole thing for a very long time. And so after like when it gets down to like the last like 45 minutes or like an hour, they're pissed like the detective, then fire investigator. They're like, listen, we don't give a fuck what happens to you. Like you want to keep playing games. You don't want to say what's going on. Like that's fine. Like we're just going to book you right now. You can deal with like everybody else

and then she decides to start talking. So when they start getting her to talk, she starts talking about, you know, how she is a part of a gang and how she was involved with the gang leader. His name was, I forgot his name. It's in the police report. I think it might be Edward. Edwin was never her husband. All of that was a lie. It was a guy that she used to like at high school, but he was never real. But who was the people that she was talking to all the time? She was talking to this guy, the gang leader. They ask, how did you meet Angelique? Like how did you guys, how did you come about with Angelique being the person that you wanted to choose to do this for, like to kill her? And she goes, well, Hannah, she goes, well, what do you mean? She was like, Hannah introduced us. And I told him, I met this girl. She's a

pregnant person out here. And he said that she would be perfect. That, you know, for me to become friends with her. And when the time was right, we would, we would execute our plan. And the way she talks about it, though, in this confession is like, we normally, like, she talks about like they've done this before. She talks about how much money she would get for it. She talks about how there was a buyer waiting across the border in Mexico for them. This wasn't about her trying to steal your child for herself because she was going through something mentally and thought either your baby was hers or she was so devastated that she couldn't have her own child. It was strictly a transaction. It was a transaction. She was going to get paid and she was going to stay in Mexico and not come back.

Wow. And the thought, when I heard that, like I have a recording. on my phone of it. And I remember like when I'm recording, I'm recording it for my best friend because like when I, like in certain parts, I would record certain things. She's like, do you want me to sit with you? And I'm like, no, I need to do this by myself. Like, let me be by myself, but I'll record things for you. And I'm sitting there and I'm listening to it. And you can see, like, you see like my CD player, like my car. And you see my hands start to shaking. You see me, start, you hear me start to cry because like it's so, it's so just like nonchalant. Like I was nothing. All I was was a transaction. All I was, you know. You were the carrier.

I was the carrier. And she just kind of just goes into detail. Like she goes into just straight detail about everything, just how they were going to do it. The fire. Well, what happened to fire? That was never even a part of the plan. Wow. That just happened.

But it makes sense because it all aligns in together, you know, you got to think when she wanted me to leave to go to the park. So supposedly he was in the van waiting at the park for me. They were hoping that they could take me back to the house and do it there. The goal was not to have the C-section performed in my house. No. She had to keep improvising because I wasn't. giving up. I wasn't leaving the house when I turned around when she said three. That phone rang immediately he was watching. When she said, hey, come get us without even hesitation of who this is,

that was him. It was planned. They had orchestrated together. So now looking back at everything in hindsight, your son is 15 now? He's 15. And you have three children, correct? Yes. How old are they? So Rylans 15, Maddox is 10 and Scarlet's 8. Okay. And And how does he know anything about your story? Yes. So Ryland, Rylans gone on a lot of interviews with me as a baby. So like we did like the Dr. Phil show and then we did the ID channel. So he was a part of both of those things. But he was, he was a baby. When I went to the release, he would have been eight and a half. So he was eight and a half when she was released. And I sat down that day when I came back home from the release and I told him everything. And I said, I'm not telling you this to scare you. I'm telling you this because I want you to be protected and I want you to not be naive and I want you to understand that there was a bad woman out here who wanted to take you. I'm not, well, I'm not sure why she wanted to take you, but there was a reason. I showed him her picture. I went to the school, gave, printed out the picture. I took time off of work for about three months because I changed our routines. I wanted to make

sure that she, I didn't have a routine that she could follow. You know, Dr. Phil told me that I didn't have to worry about her ever coming back after me because she wanted a newborn. But like, he knows. Yeah, because he knows. Yeah, because he knows. So I was like, that's what you always told me. That's what people always told me. Like, why are you scared? She wanted a newborn. Retaliation, anything. It could be just to ruin your life because she thinks you ruined hers now. There could be a million reasons. It's not, you know, people call me naive. Like, it's like an insult. I'm not insulted that I'm naive, but you're not going to see me be naive about the same situation twice. Right. Like we're allowed to grow. That's what as humans were meant to grow. We're meant to learn, you know, go through

hardship and learn from that and grow from it. And so this is me growing. from that. And if I'm scared, I'm scared. Yeah. So I just wanted to change everything about our lives. Like, I mean, we didn't move or anything, but like we, you know, I did leave Maricopa for about six or seven years and then I ended up back in Maricopa. So it was just changing everything, being more visual, being more, you know, like realizing our surroundings. And for about a year or so it felt really good. And we weren't bothered. And so I do feel like now I feel a lot better, but I'm still the same way. Yeah. I still don't keep my eyes off of things, especially with me being public. You know, I don't want, I feel like my story is very unique. Fetal abduction is something that doesn't happen often, but we learn from other people's mistakes and we learn from things that they've gone through. And so I'm not going to stop talking about the situation. It's your story. It's yours to tell. You shouldn't ever feel like you need to stop talking about it. And how has that journey been like for you? Because you have gone on Dr. Phil. You've done interviews. You have a very big presence and growing presence on TikTok and social media where you're sharing your story.

do you feel like that has been empowering for you and that it's been received well? And how has that entire situation been for you? At first on TikTok, it was very scary. People started to recognize me from the Dr. Phil show and that's kind of how that transpired. And that's when I decided to take my story back and kind of give an explanation and kind of break everything down for people because the Dr. Phil show did not show that. So now it feels empowering because I feel like I'm finally being able to take my story back from what other people have said about me. The Dr. Phil show I feel like made me feel like I was stupid. The ID channel wasn't, it wasn't bad, but it didn't give the facts. It didn't, it gave lies to like, like, unfortunately, like when you do documentaries and things like that,

people, I think people need to realize that. Sometimes it's not the truth. Sometimes there's things that aren't truthful in it. And so this was my first time to actually say it from my own mouth. Now, I got a lot of backlash for a lot of times. People kept telling me to like stop feeling sorry for myself and you know. Are you in your mind? What? It's it's the internet. It's crazy. Yeah. You trust me. Yeah. So I stopped talking about it for a little bit. Like I never went on podcast. I never did anything else. And then in 2023, I had, I think I went on my first true crime podcast, which was like the murder diaries. And that was my first time ever like doing something with like true crime. And then I started to get more involved into true crime just like listening to

other people's stories. And I started to realize I wasn't alone. Yeah. I started to realize my biggest thing that I always state is that trauma no matter how big or how small. Like there's no reason to compare like my story with somebody else. Like we all go through the same thing. We all go through PTSD. We all can relate. We all dissociate. Like it just felt like I finally stepped into this world where I wasn't alone. And I still wasn't ready to like venture off and talk to like these other people. But I felt good. So then I started to learn to do things like and talk to other like talk to, you know, do podcasts. And then I decided for the, then I decided, you know what, I know it's been a couple of years and people criticized me and said I was stupid. But I'm going to tell my story with

confidence. Yeah. And that's when I did my full, like I have a story time button on my, um, TikTok. It's very long. It's like 10 minutes, like it's like seven, 10 minute videos. But it's basically what you and I talked about. Like, I break everything down. And, it felt so empowering. It felt so good. It felt good to finally, like, be able to talk about, like, everything. And the biggest part was the confidence that it took. Like, so I feel, I feel amazing about it. And I feel like I'm helping other people. I have, you know, sometimes I feel like, maybe I shouldn't talk about it because people are like, okay, it happened to you, get over it. No. Like, it's been years. You don't know how many times I hear that. And sometimes it gets in

my head where I'm like, maybe I should stop talking about it. You go through something similar to this and then you tell me when you want to stop talking about it. Like, give me a break. Well, and I think people need to realize that, like, I didn't start talking about it until 2020. And that's almost 10 years after my trauma. Like, and if you talk to a lot of survivors, a lot of them do the same thing. They don't talk for a while because they can't – it takes a while to go through therapy to understand what happened to you to break everything down and then also wanting to talk.

You don't usually find survivors that go through the trauma. And they're like, okay, let's go. Yeah. Like, let's go and talk about it, just like how I am right now. They don't do that. So I am just really happy that I was able just to fully take my story back and talk about it. I met some friends like Tara. I've met Tara. She really helped me with building my confidence and talking to podcast. And I recently just did a documentary for Dr. Phil. And all these things, like I felt like Tara is like my big sister. She guides me and helps me. And it's just really nice. What do you hope that people take away when they hear your story? I hope they take away the intuition part. I hope that they have. I hope that they have. understand that because as young, not even just young women, like as just young people in life, like we tend to want to run away from like whatever that voice inside of our head is telling us or we don't understand what it is because I didn't understand. I'm very thankful that like

I listened, but what I want other people to realize is that like I between, it only took like maybe half a second that I could have died and this could have, you know, happened to me. So I always want people to take away the intuition and just trusting yourself and learning to be more intuitive with yourself. But I also want other people and I want young women to understand what this crime is because unfortunately when it happened to me it wasn't very common. And ever since 2011, there's more cases that have happened. You know, you have Michelle, you have Marlene, Reagan, all of them. Like, you know, they're different. Our stories are different, but they're also very alike. It's very alike. And, you know, it's just that.

I don't want to see this happen. It literally breaks my heart when I see this happening because it's just like I feel like these women could have been saved. And we're not talking about this crime that much because it's not common. Yeah. And, you know, like when you have like sexual abuse or you have like, you know, domestic violence, like you have this whole circle of people that unfortunately it's so sad that it's happened to so many people, but there's this larger circle. There's not that with fetal abduction. And I don't want there to be. Right. Please don't join this club. Yeah. I don't want you to be a part of this club. But please, like, take away from the fact of making friends when you're pregnant, being aware when you're pregnant.

Because honestly, like, I think there was some type of study done that said, like, the number one cause of death in the U.S. to pregnant women was murder. Or was like something along the lines of that. And it wasn't just about fetal abduction. It was about, like, you know, husbands that murder, you know, their pregnant wives, all of that. Like, we're in such a vulnerable state at that moment and we're a target. So I just want women to understand that. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being.

here and for sharing your story truly. I know that it was longer than we initially had planned. I'm sorry. No, no, please. I'm grateful. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. I know that everybody listening to has been, that is fascinated and loves hearing your story too, so I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's been great. And so I'm going to put all of your socials, everything in the episode description and the show notes so people can follow along with your story or journey. They can go watch your story time. But thank you so much for being here. Yes, thank you, Annie. Angelique's story is one that is both terrifying and also incredibly powerful. It's a reminder for all of us that

sometimes danger can come from the people that we trust the most. And again, another reminder that our instincts are there for a reason. I've said this before, and I know it maybe sounds lame or cliche, but your intuition and your gut, it's there as your first line of defense. It's there to protect you. It's there to tell you when something's wrong. So when you listen to that, gut feeling, it quite literally can save your life. Her story is also an incredible story about survival. I mean, Angelique lived through something that very few people could even imagine, no less survive and get through. And today she's using her voice to raise awareness about fetal abduction cases and help others who, God forbidder in that situation, recognize the warning signs.

Far too often are we hearing about cases where there's Facebook market exchanges or sales and people befriending them, and that's the plan all along. So by raising awareness, hopefully it will help curb future fetal abduction cases in the future. Now really quickly, before we wrap this episode up, I do want to just say this. There is a lot more that is tied into this case. I'm talking video clips, clips of Angelique hearing the confession for the first time, videos, documents, court filings, so much. I was going to put it throughout this episode, but I really did not want to be.

want to break up the interview. I felt like I wanted Angelique to be able to share her story uninterrupted. I wanted it to be a clear experience for all of you. So what we've done is something that we've never done before, but depending on how you like it, we may do this for many cases or all cases in the future. But I went ahead and put our entire Angelique case folder over on Patreon, where that way you can see all of the research, all the court filings, all of the videos, the clips that she shared with us firsthand that we didn't put into. this episode, again, the confession, things like that where it just gives you a little bit more of a deeper look and deeper understanding of this case. Completely optional, of course, but it's for

those of you who want to take it a little bit further, a little bit more behind the scenes, behind the research, into the case folder itself, how we gather all of our research, and of course, some of those video clips and the material that is tied to this case. So it just helps paint a fuller picture for those of you who are, you know, true crime enthusiasts. like myself that want to know every single detail involved in a case. So all of that is the whole case folder is over on Patreon right now. Patreon.com slash Annie Elise. You can get access. And once you're over there, please let me know if you want us to start doing that for the majority of our cases. As you know, we collect so much information as we're building an episode between the FOIA request, the outreach,

the interviews, court filings, whatever it may be, that we have these massive case folders that we could easily share with you. For those of you who want to sluth a little bit and want to look into it yourselves and want to see some of this stuff firsthand, and it's just, again, a little bit of a way to go beyond the episode. So go ahead, take a look. It's up now and let me know if you want to start doing that for other cases. But anyway, back to what I was saying regarding Angelique. So I just want to thank Angelique again for sharing her story with us and thank all of you guys for listening. And if you want to learn more about Angelique, her story, the great work that she's doing, I will include all of her information in the show notes below. But thank you so much for listening.

Until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people. Stay off a Facebook marketplace and just be careful with who you trust. All right. Bye.