A 12-year-old girl not only managed to escape from her kidnapper in a daring feat, but also helped Alabama police arrest the man responsible for her mother and brother's deaths.

The girl, whose identity has not been revealed by the police, was found walking alone in Dadeville, Tallapoosa County, on Monday. The man who had spotted her informed the police since the girl was in a visibly distressed state.

According to Sheriff Jimmy Abbett, the girl was being held captive by a 37-year-old man named Jose Paulino Pascual-Reyes at his mobile home. She was kept in a drugged state, bound to bed posts, and had bruises on her head and her wrists.

She managed to flee by chewing through her restraints and running away from her kidnapper's house after about a week of her ordeal. The girl walked for miles before a man spotted her and called 911.

The police then went to search the man's house, where they found the bodies of the girl's mother and brother in a decomposing state. Pascual-Reyes was her mother's boyfriend.

According to a New York Times report, the woman was smothered to death with a pillow while her son was bludgeoned to death on July 24. The man had been keeping the girl captive since that day.

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"I would say she's a hero. She's safe and we want to keep her that way," Sheriff Abbett said in a press conference, adding that the child is safe now and is receiving medical attention.

The man was arrested about 25 miles away in Auburn. He has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, capital murder and abuse of corpse. He is currently being held on no bond.

"We're looking at multiple counts of capital murder, along with kidnapping in the first degree," said Tallapoosa County District Attorney Jeremy Duerr. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, along with local agencies, are carrying out the investigation into the case.

Cemetery crime scene
Representative photo: Pixabay