The Girls in the Forest | The Case of the Rivazfar Sisters | UNSEEN

Pay attention to the girl in the blue pajamas. Notice how she looks happy in this footage, filmed on Christmas Eve. Her parents are together, her brother is there, even her little sister, Sarah. But life is about to take a disturbing turn for the worse after her parents get divorced. The mother, Patricia, wins custody of the kids. She will drag them down a horrible nightmare that will end in the worst case of abduction the state of Florida has ever seen. Eight-year-old Syarie Vesfar, taken from her bedroom with her sister, abused and left for dead in the middle of the woods. But she survived, outsmarting her captor, and even after everything she went through, she led the police straight to the monster who did this. She wanted to make sure he would pay for what he took from her. There was a meaning to my survival, to make sure that it never happened again. It's September 22, 1988, in the small town of Jay, Florida, a couple drive down the highway in their blue truck, when they spot a young girl flagging them down, waving one hand in the air, holding the other to her throat. The couple stops and approaches the girl. Her neck is bleeding profusely. The man gets her a t-shirt to hold against her wound, while the woman calls 911. At 6.30 a.m., the Rosa County Sheriff's Office receives this phone call. Sergeant Bill McCurdy is the first on the scene, followed by EMTs. While the paramedics get the girl inside the ambulance, they tell Sergeant McCurdy to get all the details he can from her now, because they say, "She will not live through this." Barely conscious, the girl is able to recount the terrible assault. She pleads for him to go help Sarah. He then learns the girl was taken into the woods, along with her sister, who was nowhere to be found. They put her on the stretcher, when falling her to the back of the truck, I told her that I'm going to go find your sister. But before the EMTs close the door and take off, McCurdy asks her one last question that will change everything. I clearly asked her who did this to you, and she looked at me and she said, "Ray, Ray did it." The year is 1987. Cia is seven years old and lives with her mother and her siblings. She barely sees her father anymore, because Patricia, her mother, got full custody. The problem is, Patricia is an alcoholic and nowhere near the mother to them that she should be. My mother was physically abusive. I tried to keep the abuse for my younger siblings. It was a tough place to be. Without a responsible adult around to take care of the kids, Cia steps into the role of her mother. I cooked breakfast for my brother and my sister. I took care of my mother when she had her migraines from her hangovers. And while her mother doesn't mind spending most of her nights at the local bars, she often brings home her many boyfriends. Exposing her kids to strange men, she sometimes barely knows herself. One of them, a man named Ray Wike. He was the worst of them all, and it became a very scary situation with him. At first, Ray seems nice to the kids, buying gifts and treats, and Patricia keeps him around longer than most. More and more, he tries to take the role of the father figure, showing interest in the kids, in Sarah, but mostly Cia. After a while, he begins to take Cia aside, alone, but her mother doesn't say a thing. What she doesn't know is that Ray is forcing Cia to do things no child should ever do. It was a pact that he said that what he does to me, I am to tell no one, otherwise he will kill my family. Child services are called home on many occasions after cigarette burns are found on Cia's hands, or bruised a lip on Sarah. But nothing changes. For months, Cia goes through her or deal in silence, doing all she can to protect her baby brother and her sister. After a year, Patricia leaves Ray and falls into the arms of another man. But Cia, as a child, only understands that Ray doesn't come to the house as often as before, without knowing why or if he'll come back. It's September 21, 1988, Patricia leaves the kids to head to the local bar, as is her usual habit. She leaves her new boyfriend behind to watch over the kids. Cia is getting her brother and sister ready for bed, making them brush their teeth, and change into their pajamas. It was a school night. We had to be in bed by eight. Being the oldest, I thought of the genius idea of Sarah and I getting ready for school the night before. We put on our school clothes and that's what we slept in. It's 12.30 a.m., Cia is woken up by a man carrying her out of bed and out of the house. I looked up, I saw that it was Ray and I asked him where we were going and he had said we're going to see your mother. He carries her out the back door and places her in the front seat of his car. Then he goes back inside. When he comes out, Cia sees that Ray is carrying her sister, Sarah, then places her in the back seat. Ray gets behind the wheel and drives off. After only 20 minutes, the car slows down and turns onto a dirt road. The car stops, but there's no sign of their mother. Cia understands something is terribly wrong. She knows what Ray is capable of, but she has to protect her little sister. He pulls me aside once he stops the car and says, "Did you tell anybody about our secret?" Cia tells the truth that she didn't tell anyone. He seems pleased with her answer. He goes to the trunk of the car, grabs a few things, then opens the back door to where Sarah is and begins to tie her up. He ties her hands up and her legs up. And at that point, we started to cry. He pulls me out of the car and brings me back to the trunk and changes into a pair of white shorts. Ray then forces himself on eight-year-old Cia. Sarah saw this, started crying hysterically and asking why he was doing this. And all I could do is tell her that it's going to be okay and it's almost over. All of a sudden, a pair of headlights turn onto the road and start getting closer. He rushes her back inside and threatens her once more to keep quiet. Sarah can't help but hope that the driver of the car will notice Ray's white shorts are covered in blood. He talks to this person and says, "You know, I'm just having car trouble. We're all sad." The man in the truck takes off. As the car leaves, Cia's last hope goes with him. It's 6 a.m., the day's breaking. Cia has suffered unimaginably for the last five hours. When finally, Ray makes her get up. He tells me to put my pants back on and to stand outside his car. And he goes and picks up Sarah because she's still tied up. And he carries her right behind me and tells me to walk into the woods. He sets my sister down on the side of the tree and I stand in front and face him. And he says, "Say your prayers." I say my prayers as he takes out a knife. Ray holds the knife to Cia's neck and attempts to take her life. "I don't feel any pain and all I can do is touch my neck. I see the blood and I drop to the ground." "I close my eyes and I just think to myself, I have to play dead otherwise. He's going to come back and kill me indefinitely." Cia leaves silent on the ground, awake, eyes closed. She can't let her sister know she's okay. She can't help her or protect her because he'll kill her. All she can do is listen and be quiet and wait for him to leave. I hear Sarah screaming and crying and I feel her on the ground kicking. Just a few minutes later, Sarah was no longer screaming and crying. She feels him jump over her body and run back to the car. Only when she hears the car drive off does she dare move. I called her name out over and over again, but I knew by the look of her that she wasn't going to answer me. All her young life, Cia's only concern was to protect Sarah, but now she has to walk out of the woods without her. At that point I felt so numb that all I could think about is getting help for Sarah and I. So I'm walking out towards the dirt road with one hand on my throat. All the sun I see a blue truck pass from the dirt road and I'm waving it, trying to wave it down. I stopped and I walked up to it and it was a couple. Though she's barely conscious, one thing is clear in her mind. The last image of her sister and of the man responsible. I wanted to make sure Ray White was captured and punished for what he had done to my sister and I immediately I told them that Ray killed my sister and they said, are you sure? And I said yes. Within minutes of hearing Syah's story, officers descend on Ray White's home. It's September 22nd 7am. While Syah is rushed to the hospital, Sergeant Bill McCurdy goes to the stretch of the road where Syah said he would find her sister, but as Syah suspected, she's no longer alive. Syah's heart stops in the ambulance, twice more on the operating table. When she wakes up, all she can think about is that monster and the nightmares that come with him. A few hundred miles away, her father Ahmed gets the worst phone call of his life. He takes a next flight out to Florida to come see Syah and to identify the body of six-year-old Sarah. It felt it was, I was submersed in ice. It was so difficult for me to even breathe. I couldn't even stand up or walk and they dragged me out of the morgue. Ahmed has been fighting for years to gain custody of his children. Now that the fight is one, and he can take Syah and her brother home, there is no celebration, no cheer, only grief. It's 1989. As Ray White goes to trial, Syah is now nine years old. She has a long recovery ahead of her, but one thing she feels strongly about is her role in the trial. I knew I had to testify. This was for Sarah, and I wanted to make sure that she knew I did good for us. Did he say anything to you before he catches her? Yes, let me say. This is Sarah, Brad. Sarah, Brad. All I could think about is the next little girl that he could take advantage of, and I wanted to make sure that was stopped. She had to stand up from the witness stand, look over and point out the defendant who had cut her throat and murdered her sister in front of her. You could not help it. You struck by her strength and her resolve. The jury finds Ray White guilty of kidnapping, sexual battery, attempted murder, and first-degree murder. He sentenced to death. There was relief. There was relief and knowing that we made this happen. Through this whole process, I had the strength, and I truly believe that my sister was with me. Syah now works as a New York State trooper. To this day, she continues her quest to protect others. I wanted to be able to get the monsters off the streets and be able to handcuff them and put them away so that they couldn't hurt children. I know that Sarah's out there, looking down on me, keeping me safe. That's my guardian angel. I've never known somebody be so in tune in everything they do. She loves life and she lives that. She is my inspiration. Courage for me is defined by one of the greats, my Angelo. History, despite its wretching pain, cannot be unlived, but its faced with courage need not be lived again. I wanted to honor Sarah, my sister, and provide awareness and even possibly prevention. By sharing my story to victims, families, my mission was to become a strong voice for all young girls, all women, all crime victims, and their families. A mission of hope to light that pathway for those who are walking this dark path that I traveled as a child. A fighter for those who need me now, know this. I will never give up that fight.