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Marcela Borges was a pregnant woman living with her husband Rubens Morais and son Ryan, in Winter Garden, Florida, whose house was evaded by a gang of mafia on Sunday, November 15, 2009. The invasion initially looked like a house robbery, however, soon the culprits began to threaten the family of 3 when they failed to pay the sum asked by the gang.
Marcela and her family members were soon abducted by the gang and held hostage in a trailer home at a faraway location. After being held hostage for almost 3 days by the gang members, Marcela Borges finally fought back, escaped the culprits, and successfully managed to call the police with the help of her neighbor. With her bravery, she succeeded in saving her entire family.
The true story of Marcela Borges is documented in Lifetime's Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story. The true-life thriller is set to release on January 11, 2025, at 8 pm EST. The official synopsis reads:
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"A pregnant Marcela Borges and her family face terror when armed intruders demand $200,000 from their Florida home. With no access to such funds, Marcela must make critical decisions to protect her loved ones from the violent captors."
What is the story of Marcela Borges?
Marcela Borges and her husband Rubens Morais, were from Brazil and immigrated to the United States with their son Ryan to start a new life. The family bought a residence together in Winter Garden, Florida. Their neighborhood was considered very safe for families, without any fear of sudden burglary or house invasion.
As per a Stranger Cases documentary, published on July 16, 2023, Marcela soon became friends with their neighbor Teresa Sheffield, and her family. Both Ryan and Teresa's sons were of the same age, hence, their families often hung out together.
Soon Marcela Borges realised that she was expecting another child. However, the family's happiness quickly took a grave turn when, on the morning of Sunday, November 15, 2009, they heard a ring bell at their door.
Marcela asked her husband if he was expecting someone at this time, but he denied it. Right when Rubens unbolted the lock, 4 strangers forcefully entered the house. They had weapons and immediately began to threaten Rubens, not to take any action.
One among the invaders held Ryan and threatened to harm him. The five-year-old immediately began to panic, however, Marcela didn't know what to do, as she was confused and shocked. The invaders soon started grabbing all the electronics from the house, and Marcela thought it was a simple house burglary.
However, when they began examining Rubens' business papers, Marcela realized the invaders meant to steal something else. 48-year-old Rubens held a directorial position in a successful transportation company and hoped invaders were scanning through his financial accounts.
The entire family was soon forcefully taken into the garage, put in the car, and started driving. Marcela heard one of the invaders speaking on the phone, who was providing them instructions for their next moves. She soon realized that this was more than a normal robbery and that the family was being kidnapped.
Rubens's eyes were blindfolded however, Marcela's eyes were still open, and she tried to remember the directions. There was a patrolling car on the way, and Marcela wanted to call for help, however, she was threatened to stay quiet.
As per the Stranger Cases documentary, Marcela Borges began to realize that this robbery was not random, and the criminals had been observing their execution for months. They already knew Rubens' business position, but hastily concluded that the family had money. By evening, the family was brought to a trailer house in Apopka, Florida.
Marcela Borges finally met the leader of the gang Bianca
Marcela saw this was also a domestic neighborhood, although impoverished. Eventually, Marcela and her family were led to a particular house. The abductors were sure that the family had hidden a pile of cash somewhere in their residence.
Marcela and Rubens were soon threatened to spill the details of the money. As per the Stranger Cases documentary, the abductors demanded a ransom of $200,000, to be free. Marcela knew that Rubens did not have that amount of money in his savings, and she was sure the invaders had mistaken their family for someone else.
Meanwhile, the gang members went back to Marcela's residence in Winter Garden and ransacked the entire house in search of money. After searching for hours, they retrieved a hidden side, which had a code.
The man on the trailer got a call from the gang members demanding the code for the same. Rubens was threatened that they would kill Ryan if he refused to do so. He did not resist and soon, provided them with the code. But there was only $30,000 inside the safe, which left them dissatisfied. The abductors were sure that the family was hiding much more money.
As per the Stranger Cases documentary, a man named Oscar was the most violent member of the gang. He tied Marcela, blindfolded her, and took her in the car. She was sure that she would be killed soon, however, when she could open her eyes, she saw a woman with her face covered with a scarf.
Soon she found out that the woman was named Bianca and she was leading the gang. Marcela Borges continuously pleaded saying they did not have $200,000. However, the gang members were stubborn in their decision, and soon threatened to kill her son Ryan, after making her listen to his screams on the phone call.
Marcela told them that though Rubens had a managerial position in the company, the finances were not his money, but he was just involved in its transaction. Bianca and Oscar then demanded she provide access to her husband's bank account and transfer all its funds to her own.
The next day, Oscar took Marcela to the bank, threatening her to not make any kind of moves. She took out their complete savings, which was $23,600, and put it inside her purse. Oscar reassured them that they would now leave them alone. He drove Marcela to her residence in Winter Garden when she saw Rubens and realized Ryan was still alive.
However, Oscar went on to betray his promise, when he dragged Rubens to another room and started beating him. Marcela reminded Oscar of his promise, but he ignored her words completely. They took a revolver with just a single bullet inside and began to play with it across Rubens's head, while he was begging for help.
The gun was then pointed at Ryan's head, and Rubens was forced to call his family, friends, colleagues, and even his boss, asking for $200,00 in debt. Considering it was a very large sum, all of them denied it. Yet Rubens hoped that any one of them would realize the uncertainty of the phone call and inform the police, however, none of them did that.
Marcela Borges decided to flee from the residence
As per the Stranger Cases documentary, it was on November 17, 2009, when Marcela Borges started to feel tense if Ryan was alright still. Bianca always kept on following her, asking about Rubens's income sources, since they knew someone could enter the house at any moment, or could call the police.
That day, Marcela asked Bianca to direct her to use the kitchen, and this is when she got the opportunity. While Bianca was looking in the other direction, she immediately grabbed the kitchen knife and tried to attack her. Soon Marcela lunged into the gang leader for a fierce fight and finally saw Bianca's true face when her scarf fell off.
Bianca immediately called for help and threatened her to kill. Marcela was dragged upstairs and Bianca started hitting her face with a stick and breaking her nose.
She was bleeding profusely in great pain and she decided to feign unconsciousness to stop the assault. The robbers left the room and for a moment everything fell silent but then the gang members started discussing what to do with the victims.
Marcela eventually realized that all of them would be killed. Believing that she, her husband, and her son had only moments left to live Marcela took a huge risk. The only way she could make her escape was through the window from the second floor. She jumped from the window and landed between two conditioners below. She fell on her hands and knees and immediately ran towards Teresa's house.
Teresa first thought her neighbor was beaten by her husband, but soon realized it was Marcela. She was begging her to open the door, and soon Oscar emerged from the corner of the house raising a weapon. He shot Marcela multiple times, one hitting her eventually. But the police soon reached the scene, leading the culprits to flee away from the scene.
Marcela Borges started recovering from the injury
After retrieving Rubens, who was gravely injured, authorities found Ryan huddled in a corner, in the furthest room. Marcela was taken to the ambulance for the surgery and was informed that her husband and son were safe.
As per WFTV 9 article, published on May 8, 2012, the prime culprits Victor Manual Sanchez and Miguel Diaz were captured less than a quarter mile away from the house. Oscar Diaz Hernandez, a 19-year-old teenager was captured the next day.
The gang leader Bianca dos Santos remained missing, and authorities found that she was hiding in Bolivia. After Marcela Borges' recovery, she found the true story behind the abduction. It was found that Bianca and her mother had a company that assisted clients with tax evasion check fraud and other financial matters and Rubens had been their client.
However, before the attack on the family, the U.S. tax authorities informed Bianca's mother that they owed over a hundred thousand dollars and must make payments or face imprisonment. This became the reason why Bianca targeted Rubens, to pay the fine money.
As per the Stranger Cases documentary, Bianca soon began forming a gang of young ruthless members, who were illegally living in the United States, and virtually untraceable by the law.
Bianca believed that Rubens had enough money. Marcela Borges' family became an easy target, since, she already had their house details. Both Victor Manual Sanchez and Miguel Diaz were sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.
However, Bianca dos Santos was still out of the law's radar. Oscar Diaz Hernandez, tried to kill himself, hence, charges against him were dropped, with Marcela's consent. Marcela Borges safely gave birth to her second child, despite being shot and jumping from a great height. The boy was named Lucas, and soon the family decided to forgo pursuing further legal actions against Oscar.
To know more details about the story of Marcela Borges, watch Lifetime's Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story. The thriller will be available for streaming on the Lifetime channel on January 11, 2025, at 8 pm EST.
