Kidnapped Girl, 7, Was Thrown Off Bridge, Incredibly Survives

"At approximately 4:30am ... a woman from Shrewsbury was awoken by knocks at her door and found the 7-year-old victim standing at her door in pajamas soaking wet." That's how Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Riddle described the incredible end of an allegedly harrowing ordeal. Police say the sleeping child was taken from a chair in her grandparents' home in Worcester, Mass., around 2:30am Sunday, driven around for an hour, choked, and thrown from a bridge into a lake, only to miraculously survive and manage to swim to shore. Joshua Hubert, 35, has been charged with kidnapping and is being held without bail. MassLive reports Hubert has denied all involvement; Riddle alleges Hubert attended a cookout at the home and passed through the room where the girl was sleeping as he exited.

The Telegram reports the girl was found with bruises on her wrist and leg and marks on her neck that indicate she was choked; none of the injuries are life-threatening. The Telegram reports police haven't specified which Lake Quinsigamond bridge she was thrown from, though WCVB cites police in saying it was a bridge along Interstate 290 that stands 100 feet above the water; the Washington Post notes a man who jumped from that bridge in 2012 died. MassLive reports the girl identified Hubert as her assailant. Worcester police are seeking surveillance footage from homes and businesses in the area that have exterior cameras in place and might have captured a Saturn Ion near the vicinity of Lincoln Street between 2am and 4:30am Sunday, notes WCVB. (More kidnapping stories.)