CLEVELAND — It's what Clevelanders had been hoping and praying for: Cleveland EMT Lachelle Jordan is no longer missing, her father, Joseph Jordan, told News 5's Sarah Buduson. Lachelle had been missing since Saturday while police, family and colleagues spent the last several days searching for her.
Lachelle Jordan, a Cleveland EMT that authorities said had been the victim of stalking, had a torn and tattered shirt and no shoes as she limped into the Open Pantry convenience store on East 166th and Euclid in East Cleveland.
The surveillance video obtained by News 5 gives a glimpse into the moments before Jordan was whisked to the hospital for treatment. Her condition is stable.
Joseph Jordan said the police called to let him know. "We're all just happy," Joseph Jordan told News 5. He saw his daughter briefly and said she "looked to be okay, alert."
Cleveland Police Dispatch told News 5 she was found on Thursday before midnight. Police have not released any additional information on Jordan’s disappearance and recovery.
According to Dispatch, Lachelle said that she was taken. Her father confirms he was told the same thing. What we don't know yet is what transpired between her disappearance on Saturday night and the moment she turned up late Thursday night.
A worker at a convenience store on East 166th and Euclid said an injured woman came into the store, and surveillance video from the store shows a woman who is having some difficulty walking go into the store. Her clothes are torn, and she is barefoot. The worker says she asked for a phone and called authorities.
He describes what happened:
“I don’t know what happened with her, but I [saw] when she come inside the store,” said a store employee that asked not to be named. “She said, ‘Can you help me get the store phone?’ I gave the store phone to her. She called the police, and the police come and helped her.”
Witnesses and bystanders described Jordan’s shirt as having blood or burn marks on it.
In a simple gesture of respect and humanity, the store employee grabbed a t-shirt from a nearby shelf and offered it to Jordan while other store patrons ensured that she was okay.
“When she got the phone, she immediately called the police. During that time with her on the phone… police asked her, ‘What happened? What is the situation? What is wrong with her?’” the employee said. “Immediately, I talked to my friend to give her a t-shirt… we are human. We respect our mothers, sisters. She is a human; she is my sister. We are human first.”
News that Jordan was found alive quickly spread, based on audio News 5 received from a call between an EMS dispatcher and a Cleveland Police dispatcher.
CPD Dispatcher: Police
EMS Dispatcher: You'll never believe this. We just got a call from Lachelle Jordan.
CPD: You did?
EMS: Yes.
CPD: Okay, well, what's going on, obviously?
EMS: She said she was assaulted. She ran from people that kidnapped her...She said that she got away from people that kidnapped her. They tried to burn her alive.
Within four minutes of her call for help, Cleveland emergency workers arrived at the east side convenience store to help one of their own. A few minutes later, they wheeled Jordan out of the store on a gurney and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she remains as of Friday night.
EMS says this was the location from which they transported Jordan to the hospital in stable condition.
Cleveland Police have not answered questions about what happened and say they do not plan to make officials available today to talk about Jordan, a city employee and mother of two. The City of Cleveland has not issued any statements or made officials available to speak.
On Thursday, Joseph Jordan spoke with reporters and urged anyone with information to come forward and contact police.
"Somebody knows what happened. And I need that somebody. Whoever you are, wherever you are, I need you to reach out to law enforcement. Reach out to the media, contact them. You can remain anonymous," Joseph Jordan said.
Neighbors relieved
News 5’s DaLaun Dillard when the neighborhood where Lachelle lives on Cleveland’s east side, near 116th Street and Buckeye Road.
He spoke to many of her neighbors who were praying for a safe return; the majority of them didn’t want to speak on camera.
Just steps away from her house, there was a corner store that still had her flyer up. The owner said he met Jordan several times and simply wanted to make the neighborhood aware that she was missing at the time.
Others told Dillard they didn’t know her personally, but they'd seen her in the neighborhood, and they're grateful she's been found alive.
One of her next-door neighbors agreed to speak on camera.
“Honestly, it's a big relief,” he said. “I’m happy that they found her, and hopefully, justice will be done for the person who took her. She has children, and I do too, so it’s just a big relief knowing that they found her and she’s safe."
You can watch the neighbors' reactions in the player below:
Family plans to speak this weekend
Jordan reunited with her parents Friday afternoon; they told News 5 her two children will see her tonight. They say Sunday is going to be a very special Mother's Day.
The family also told News 5 they plan to hold a news conference sometime Saturday; we'll bring you coverage of the news conference this weekend once we learn more.
Police expert weighs in
One law enforcement expert believes Lachelle Jordan’s training and expertise made a big difference in her survival.
Tim Dimoff called his case unusual because there’s a short window for survival, and she exceeded that.
News 5 asked Dimoff why Cleveland police aren’t saying much about the investigation.
Dimoff, a national security and law enforcement procedures expert, says right now, police are working to nail down every bit of information about what happened over the last five days.
Dimoff says investigators will have Jordan retrace her steps, including if she recalls where she ended up, and how she got there and verify if there was criminal action.
He says police don’t want to tip their hat in the direction they’re going.
"The bottom line here is that she's alive. She's definitely been through some type of trauma, and they, the police, don't want to give away any clues or information on who it might be, where it might be, and they want to basically get the interview with her to identify the person who was engaged with her,” Dimoff said.
Dimoff says Jordan is very lucky to have survived, whereas in many other cases, we see many different outcomes and credits her work experience in dealing with tough situations.
Jordan said she was stalked before disappearance
Lachelle Jordan told police she had "fears for her safety" just days before disappearing from the front yard of a home on Fairport Avenue in Cleveland on Saturday.
RELATED: Missing Cleveland EMT feared 'for her safety' before she went missing
Just two days before her disappearance, Lachelle Jordan was supposed to attend a court hearing in a rape case involving Michael Stennett.
Stennett, 65, is in the Cuyahoga County Jail, accused of stalking Jordan in the days and months before she disappeared.
The longtime Cleveland youth baseball coach was charged with one felony count of menacing by stalking and one felony count of violating a protection order while committing a felony Monday.
Cleveland Police executed a search warrant at his apartment on Larchmere Boulevard Monday, according to Stennett's landlord.
According to the EMS union, Jordan was taken off the streets about three weeks ago after she repeatedly claimed that Stennett and his associates were showing up while she was on emergency scenes.
An arrest warrant for Stennett said Jordan noticed "multiple times" Stennett was following her in his personal vehicle while she was working, and he would also wait outside her home.
The warrant also said Stennett went to Jordan's house and refused to leave one time in January, and she noticed him sitting outside her home on May 4, just two days before she went missing.
We will continue reporting this story as we learn more.
