Q: What is the status of Steven Reece Cochran, the man who kidnapped a 12-year-old Lodi girl in 1994? - Anonymous, Folsom.
A: Steven Cochran, now 42, is serving a 106-year-sentence. He is incarcerated at the Kern Valley State Prison at Delano, records show.
Cochran, a drifter and self-described alcoholic, broke into a Lodi home on July 2, 1994, after stalking the Lodi neighborhood and determining that three girls - ages 12, 13 and 16 - were alone in the house, The Bee reported. Their parents were out of town.
Cochran tricked one of the girls into letting him into the house and then threatened them with a knife.
He tied up the girls and assaulted them during the next few hours. At one point, he lost track of one of the victims, and, fearing she had escaped, he fled with the 12-year-old in a stolen car. The other victims freed themselves and notified police.
For the next 22 hours, authorities launched an intense search for the abducted child. Residents posted fliers around the town and worried that the missing girl would meet the same fate as Polly Klaas, 12, who was murdered after a kidnapper broke into her home in Petaluma just nine months earlier.
The search narrowed to a field near a town 25 miles east of Lodi, where Cochran was spotted walking alone. The stolen car had been found the night before.
An hour after Cochran was apprehended, the 12-year-old girl walked out of the field naked, trying to cover herself with prairie grass.
Cochran pleaded innocent by reason of insanity, but the plea backfired when three psychiatrists said Cochran was sane.
Cochran will not be eligible for parole until 2048, records indicate.
For a complete list of questions answered by Sacto911, click here
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.