Nancy Grace enters search for Juliani Cardenas

Nancy Grace, noted television crime commentator, enters the hunt for missing Juliani Cardenas, 4, allegedly kidnapped from his grandmother’s arms by Jose Esteban Rodriguez, 27, near Patterson, California. Nancy Grace’s tenacity and fervor equals a southern hunting dog following a scent and brings global attention to this missing boy.


Mr. Rodriguez, authorities are searching the Delta-Mendota canal for your Toyota Corolla. If you’re alive, somewhere far away from this canal, please listen to Tabitha, Juliani’s mother, and drop him off at the nearest fire station. If you want the world to know your side of this story, call Nancy Grace.


UPDATE: Friday, January 21, 2011


Authorities say a third car has been pulled from Delta-Mendota canal, but it's red. This canal is beginning to look like a repository for stolen vehicles.

Amber Alert

Praying for Juliani

My blog is informative or humorous, or both. Not today. The sign on I-580 between Livermore Boulevard and First Street exits, usually dark, is bright yellow with an AMBER ALERT. I’d read about the abduction yesterday, but reading the sign sent cold chills down my spine on this sunny 60-degree day.

Jose Esteban Rodriguez, 27, allegedly kidnapped Juliani Cardenas, 4, from his home near Patterson. Snatched him from his grandmother’s arms, the news said. Rodriguez was last seen driving a silver Toyota Corolla with license plate number 6HBW445. The vehicle had oversized wheels and a "donut" spare tire on the front passenger side. So how many cars fit this description? Maybe none. Perhaps the plates have been switched. Perhaps the tire has been repaired. Perhaps the car is hidden in a garage. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. All I know is that the Amber Alert sign sends the chilling message that a little boy who should be home with his mother and grandmother is missing.

Unbelievable Plot

Writing nonfiction requires impeccable research. A fiction novel should mimic truth. The plot needs a beginning, middle and end. Conflict and offshoots of that conflict should be woven around the protagonist (good guy) and the antagonist (bad guy). These two main characters will interact with other lesser characters to advance the story to an arc that brings a resolution or conclusion. These hard facts and requirements pummeled me like an ancient stoning and stifled my imagination. I read online news to ignite fresh ideas. That’s when I stumbled upon this local story.

A quick arrest followed a mid-afternoon bank robbery after the “alleged” (who forced us to use that word?) robber, the antagonist, ran away with an undisclosed amount of cash. A trained canine becomes the hero, the protagonist, by following the scent from the bank to a nearby apartment where the missing cash was stashed. Witnesses and video surveillance identified the alleged robber. So far, a humdrum story. Bank robbery. Quick catch. Cash recovered. Alleged perpetrator apprehended and in custody. All mundane facts; nothing to hold the reader’s interest.

Suppose this were a novel synopsis, not a news article. At this point, the agent would drop the pages onto a desk-high slush pile and sip a caramel latte before moving to the next submission. I imagine hearing, “Hey, wait a minute,” as her read-ahead abilities recalled an incredible twist in the next line. The robber, make that alleged robber, was a bank customer with account records available at that branch! Now that’s an unbelievable plot, a fact from the news article, that could generate a blunder-book detective series contract. A book series could prompt a comedy movie and make me famous.