A young girl called 911 and said her dad and his friend were responsible. The truth made everyone cry.
Dispatcher Vanessa Gomez had answered thousands of calls in her 15 years working at the Pine Grove County 911 Center. Most were the usual — medical emergencies, car accidents, or storm damage. But the call that came in at 2:17 p.m. on a Tuesday in September left her speechless.
“911, what’s your emergency?” Vanessa asked calmly, just as she was trained to do.
There was silence for a few seconds. Then a small, shaky voice came through the phone, mixed with crying.
“It was my daddy and his friend. Please… help me.”
Vanessa sat up straighter, ready to type.
“Sweetie, are you safe? Can you tell me your name?”
“My name is Liliana. I’m eight,” the girl said, her voice breaking. “My stomach really hurts… it’s getting bigger and bigger.”
In the background, Vanessa heard a cartoon playing in Spanish. There were no adult voices and no sounds of anyone moving.
“Liliana, where are your parents right now?”
“Mommy’s sleeping again because her body’s fighting,” Liliana said weakly. “Daddy’s at work. But… I think what they gave me made me sick.”
Vanessa waved for her supervisor while keeping her voice gentle.
“What did they give you, sweetheart? What did your dad and his friend give you?”
“Food and water,” Liliana whispered. “But right after that, my stomach started hurting really badly. Now it’s swollen, and no one wants to take me to the doctor.”
Vanessa quickly sent Officer Jose Lopez to the address and kept talking to Liliana.
“Can you look out the window for me, sweetie? A police officer is coming to help you. His name is Officer Lopez, and he’s very nice.”
Vanessa heard small footsteps and then a quiet gasp.
“The police car’s here. He’s going to fix my tummy.”
“He’s going to help you, Liliana. Stay on the phone. Open the door when he knocks.”
Officer Lopez arrived at a small, worn-down house on Maple Street. The paint was peeling, and the yard was messy, but bright flowers planted in old buckets showed someone was trying to make it look nice.
When Liliana opened the door, he felt worried despite his training. She was much too small for an eight-year-old, with messy pigtails and large eyes in a thin face. But what shocked him most was her swollen stomach, showing even under her old blue t-shirt.
“Hi, Liliana. I’m Officer Lopez,” he said, bending down to her level. “Can you show me where it hurts?”
Liliana lifted her shirt a little, showing her tight, swollen belly. Tears filled her eyes.
“It was Daddy and his friend,” she whispered. “They did this to me.”
As Lopez called for an ambulance, neither he nor Liliana noticed an elderly neighbor watching from across the street, already on the phone to share the news that would soon split the town apart.
Inside the house, Officer Lopez sat with Liliana on an old flower-patterned couch. The place showed signs of a hard life — unpaid bills on the table, empty medicine bottles in the kitchen, and dirty dishes in the sink. But it also showed love — crayon drawings on the fridge, a handmade blanket on the chair, and family photos filled with real smiles.
“Liliana, can you tell me more about what happened?” Lopez asked gently, holding a notebook but focusing only on her.
She hugged her teddy bear tightly. “My stomach started hurting really bad two weeks ago. At first, it was just a little, but it kept getting worse.” She touched her belly. “Now it’s really big and it hurts all the time.”
“Did you tell your parents?” Lopez asked.
Liliana nodded, looking down. “I told Daddy. I told him many times. He always said, ‘We’ll go to the doctor tomorrow.’ But tomorrow never came. He’s always too busy or too tired.”
Lopez wrote this down, his face growing serious.
“And what about your mom?”
“Mommy has days when her body fights her,” Liliana said softly. “That’s what Daddy says. She stays in bed and takes a lot of medicine, but it doesn’t always work.” She played with her teddy bear’s ear, avoiding his gaze.
The officer leaned closer and spoke gently. “And you said your dad’s friend — can you tell me about him?”
Liliana frowned, thinking. “Mr. Raimundo comes over sometimes. Last week he brought food. After I ate the sandwich he made… my tummy got really bad.”
Just then, paramedics Tina Hernandez and Marcos Torres came inside. Tina’s kind smile made Liliana feel calmer.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she said, kneeling next to her. “I heard your tummy’s not feeling well. Can I take a look?”
While Tina carefully checked Liliana, Marcos quietly asked Officer Lopez,
“Have you seen the parents yet?”