The Great Escape
"Yolanda's Crossing" by Paul Meyer and Stella M. Chavez of The Dallas Morning News describes the harrowing journey and dramatic escape of Yolanda Méndez Torres, who was forced to immigrate to the U.S. by the man who began raping her when she was 11. Meyer and Chavez, along with photographer Lara Solt, trace Torres' trip from the small Mexican town where she was raised through the deserts of Arizona, the farm fields of eastern North Carolina, a Georgia motel room and finally to a Dallas apartment complex where she was kept in captivity. The last chapters of this well-written narrative retell how Torres found the courage to escape and how some brave people helped her. To report this story, Chavez and Meyer interviewed more than 80 people over seven months, sifted through trial records and examined Mexican and American government documents. Through Torres' ordeal, they show that many people were complicit in the abuse of a child.
Thank you Brian Summers for suggesting this story.