Girl allegedly tortured and thrown in river ran to house of retirees to call for help
WHEN a Sydney retiree opened his front door in the early hours of Sunday, a teenager in sopping wet clothes shivered and wept as she said: “I was kidnapped, tied up and thrown in the river”. Four people have been charged with charges including attempted murder. WARNING: CHILLING VIDEO
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WHEN a Sydney retiree opened his front door in the early hours of Sunday, a young girl in sopping wet clothes shivered and wept as she said: “I was kidnapped, tied up and thrown in the river”.
The retiree quickly ushered 19-year-old Kayla Kendrigan into his brown-brick home on the Hawkesbury River where she asked him if he could help her call the police.
“When I opened the door this young lass was there and she looked like a drowned rat, looked absolutely beside herself,” the man, who only wanted to be named as Patrick, told The Daily Telegraph.
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“She did look like her hair had been cut, she looked very upset, very tearful, shaking and very jerky, like somebody had been dragged through the mud. It was obvious she had been in the river.”
But what Patrick did not know was that Ms Kendrigan had allegedly been kidnapped by a group of friends the previous night and tortured for eight hours before she was tied up and thrown off the Windsor bridge.
Police will allege the group kidnapped Ms Kendrigan at Ambarvale in Sydney’s southwest on Saturday night after they believed she had called one of them “a dog” on Facebook.
Details of the case emerged as dozens of friends and strangers reached out to Ms Kendrigan with messages of support.
Mother-of-one Brooke Brown, 19, Matthew Leuthwaite and a 17-year-old mother and 16-year-old boy all remain in custody charged with various offences including attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping.
Three of them were arrested on Wednesday but The Daily Telegraph can reveal the 16-year-old was arrested at Wallacia on Thursday.
A few hours after the final arrest, chilling mobile phone footage of the kidnapping was uploaded to Facebook in which Ms Kendrigan can be seen tied to a metal chair.
“This ugly f---in bitch here want to call people f---in dogs all right see people …. now she’s the c — tied up in the room … yeah, yeah it’s how it works,” said a male narrating the video.
Police will allege Ms Kendrigan, who has a missing left arm, drifted in and out of consciousness as she was stabbed with a kitchen knife, hit with a bat and repeatedly punched inside a house on Goroka St at Whalan.
She also had her hair hacked off and suffered multiple burns from cigarettes stubbed out on her body.
Police allege she was bundled into the boot of a Holden Commodore in the early hours of Sunday and driven to Windsor bridge, where she was forced onto the railing before she was pushed and fell 20m into the muddy river about 5am.
She told police she managed to swim to the river bank and walked along the grass for several hundred metres before she found a house she felt looked safe to knock at.
Irish-born retirees Patrick and his wife Christina said they were delighted when Ms Kendrigan and her parents knocked on the door of their Windsor home on Wednesday.
“It was lovely to meet them and she said thank you, thank you, thank you,” Christina said.
“And the parents said thank you so much for looking after our daughter,” she said.
Yesterday Ian Kendrigan thanked hardworking Hawkesbury Police Area Command police on Facebook: “I would like to say from the bottom of my heart a huge thank you to the police and detective you have done a fantastic job.”
Horrified best friend Keisha Ibbotson created a GoFundMe account on Thursday to raise $5000 towards Kayla’s “recovery and healing”.
“I love you so much Kayla Kendrigan and I’ll see you again tomorrow,” friend Keisha Ibbotson wrote. “Don’t you ever forget that I’m your best friend and I’m here for anything you ever need #justiceforkayla.”
The “justice for Kayla” hashtag started to be shared online with an accompanying picture of Kayla.
Liam Taylor, a friend of the Kendrigan family, preached perseverance.
“My heart goes out to Aaron Kendrigan (Kayla’s brother) and his family during this tough time,” he said. “I have known you guys my whole life growing up and I wouldn’t want this happening to anyone. Stay strong.”
“Keep your head high, always here for a chat,” Thane Perrin said. “Speedy recovery … no human being should ever be put through that.”
“I don’t know you sweetheart but I just want to say you are beautiful and I’m so sorry you had to go through what you did,” Natalie Green wrote on Ms Kendrigan’s Facebook page.
The four accused will face court later this year.