CLEVELAND — The family of Lachelle Jordan, an EMT who was found safe after police say she told them she was kidnapped, provided an update on her condition at a press conference Saturday evening.
You can watch the full news conference in the player below:
“When I first stepped up to something like this, I had one small request and that was to bring my daughter home safely and with the support of law enforcement, media, EMS, community and everybody that wanted to be somebody, that request was granted,” Lachelle Jordan’s father Joseph Jordan began.
He went on to emphasize that questions that would in any way impede the ongoing investigation into his daughter's disappearance would not be answered so as to not interfere with the investigation.
Mayor Justin Bibb's administration and the Cleveland Police Department have not made any statements regarding Jordan's disappearance and return. Cleveland Police Public Information Officer Jennifer Ciaccia told News 5 the department has no plans to make officials available to speak.
“Lachelle has had some trauma. She's had some injuries and she's been hospitalized and she's getting medical treatment and she's going to be okay, as can be expected,” Jordan said regarding Lachelle’s current condition.
When asked what it took for Lachelle to get home Jordan responded “she ran”. He went on to share that she ran cross-country in high school and he has always been her biggest supporter.
Upon seeing her father and twin sister after her escape, Joseph said that Lachelle exclaimed, “It’s nice to see a friendly face.” They were the first family Lachelle saw, according to her father.
The Jordan family thanked EMS, police and the media for the attention given to Lachelle’s kidnapping. Joseph also expressed his gratitude to the convenience store worker who let Lachelle use the phone the night she escaped.
"To the people at the convenience store who let her use the phone, thank God you were there," he said.
Lachelle, a Cleveland EMT, told authorities said had been the victim of stalking for months prior to her disappearance.
She 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 Thursday night. When she spoke with first responders from the store, she told them she had been taken and escaped.
The details surrounding where she was, who kidnapped her, what happened to her while she was missing and how exactly she escaped were not given, but her background as an EMT is something those close to her credit to her finding safety.
"As EMTs and paramedics, we are the king of improvisation. You make do with what you got. If you see an opening, you take it. Whether it's to help a patient or to protect yourself or protect your patient, you take it. And there's no doubt in my mind she saw an opening and she took it," said Dave Jockers, vice president of the Cleveland Association of Rescue Employees at the Saturday press conference.
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.
RELATED: Lachelle Jordan safe; told authorities she was kidnapped
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.
Stennett has not been charged by police in Jordan’s disappearance.
While the family waits for answers and details in Lachelle's case, they are happy that the outcome, however, it got to this point, Lachelle returned alive and well.
"A miracle did happen. Yes, sir. Lachelle came home," Joseph Jordan said.
