'No one would be looking for her': Sisters who rescued 12-year-old from abusive home only to treat her as a 'slave' are in even more trouble now, feds say

Two sisters successful Texas already accused of starving, beating, and torturing a 12-year-old miss who came to them for help are present facing national transgression charges successful transportation with the alleged abuse of the child.

Brenda Mariana Garcia, 39, and Tania Evette Garcia, 37, were charged with 1 number each of kidnapping and forced labor, some of which are felonies, national prosecutors announced.

The duo was initially arrested successful October 2025 and charged astatine the authorities level with felony wounded to a child, unlawful restraint, and invasive ocular recording. They were indicted by national authorities past month.

According to the connection of probable cause, the probe into the sisters began connected Sept. 28, 2025, erstwhile a witnesser spotted the unfortunate walking unsocial down a engaged Texas thoroughfare wearing thing but boxers and a shirt. The kid was said to beryllium "malnourished, injured, and wearing a zip-tie astir her wrist." EMS responded to the country and observed injuries "all implicit the child's body," including heavy lacerations to her caput and bruises each implicit her face.

The unfortunate told medics she had "just escaped a adjacent location wherever she had been physically abused by Brenda and Tania Garcia" for the erstwhile six months, feds wrote.

The victim's caput was shaved and she introduced herself utilizing a boy's name, authorities said. It was lone erstwhile they began examining the unfortunate that they learned she was a girl. Investigators accidental the sisters "instructed her to present herself arsenic a boy."

In a forensic interview, investigators learned that the child's teenage parent had been deported to Honduras respective years ago, leaving her with an uncle who had allegedly been sexually abusing her for years. The unfortunate disclosed the maltreatment to her person successful March 2025. That person told her mother, Brenda Garcia, astir the abuse. Brenda Garcia past "devised a plan" to get the unfortunate distant from the uncle, picking her up from the autobus halt and taking her to the Harris County Sheriff's Office to study the abuse.

The uncle, Felix Bustillo, is presently charged with 1 number of continuous intersexual maltreatment of a kid successful Harris County, Texas.

The unfortunate past went to enactment with Brenda Garcia and Tania Garcia. However, the kid said Brenda Garcia began physically abusing her that aforesaid night, beating the miss for supposedly making "contradictory" statements successful her study to the sheriff.

"After this event, [the victim's] maltreatment continued and escalated implicit the people of respective months. [The victim] reported that she was beaten with cords, laptop chargers, a cane, and sticks by some Brenda and Tania Garcia. [The victim] was not permitted to eat," the ailment states. "Brenda and Tania Garcia would onslaught [the victim] successful the look with an crystal pack. [The victim] was forced to portion bare during galore of the beatings. [The victim] advised that Brenda Garcia would photograph and video grounds the maltreatment utilizing her cellphone. [The victim] advised she believed that Brenda Garcia shared the videos of the maltreatment with others, including Garcia's household members."

The Garcias allegedly forced the miss to slumber connected the level successful the surviving country portion zip-tied to a table. She was not permitted to usage the restroom and was often forced to urinate connected herself earlier being chopped free.

The unfortunate said she was forced to sweep, dust, cleanable windows, instrumentality retired the trash, bash laundry, and attraction for the family's roosters, ducks, and dogs, each of which were utilized "as a signifier of punishment." If she did not implicit a task, she was allegedly beaten. The 2 different insignificant kids successful the location were "never expected to bash chores," investigators said.

"In short, Brenda and Tania Garcia treated [the victim] arsenic a enslaved and forced her to enactment wrong the residence and outside, cleaning and maintaining the livestock and property," the affidavit says. "There is not an juncture successful the 7 months of substance messages occurring during the applicable clip play betwixt Brenda and Tania Garcia wherever they instruct different insignificant successful the location to assistance with the types of enactment they necessitate from [the victim]."

Text messages obtained from Brenda Garcia's cellphone allegedly showed the sisters regularly referring to the unfortunate by derogatory names specified arsenic "baldy," "idiot," and "f—ing b—." At slightest once, they besides told the kid to "just dice already."

Videos allegedly showed further abuse, including the unfortunate "crawling connected the ground" with "bruised and swollen eyes" aft being caught eating retired of the trash. Brenda Garcia tin beryllium heard laughing arsenic she makes the kid "bark similar a small dog" and calls her a "raccoon."

Other maltreatment allegedly inflicted connected the kid by the Garcia sisters included strangling and beating her with cords, belts, sticks, and different objects.

The victim's parent told investigators she initially believed Brenda Garcia was trying to assistance her daughter, but said Brenda Garcia soon began ignoring her calls and refusing to fto the parent talk to her child. Brenda Garcia aboriginal told the parent she "would person to nonstop an army" to get her girl back.

Brenda Garcia is besides accused of telling the victim's CPS caseworker that the unfortunate had gone backmost to Honduras to beryllium with her mother. She past warned the kid that "now nary 1 would beryllium looking for her anymore."

Both sisters are presently successful national custody without bond, records show. They are scheduled to look for enslaved hearings connected Feb. 13.