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Viktor Sanchez and his cousin Miguel Santiz, were members of the gang, who were responsible for the invasion of Marcela Borges' residence in Winter Garden, Florida. It was on Sunday, November 15, 2009, when Marcela's husband Rubens Morais, responded to the doorbell, and a group of armed men forcefully entered the house.
Viktor Sanchez, Miguel Santiz, along with the gang members soon began to ransack their entire house. Marcela initially thought the incident to be a gang robbery, however, soon the entire family was abducted and taken away as hostages to a distant location. The family was held captive and tortured over the next three days, until Marcela fled away, got help, and called the police.
Viktor Sanchez and Miguel Santiz were caught and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. They are currently serving their time behind bars. The gang leader Bianca dos Santos escaped from the police radar and flew to Bolivia. Lifetime's Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story documents the complete story behind Viktor Sanchez's and his gang members' crimes. The film will air on January 11, 2025, at 9 pm EST.
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Viktor Sanchez and the gang members invaded Marcela Borges' residence while she was pregnant
Marcela Borges and Ruben Morais were Brazilian immigrants, who shifted to the United States, to start a new life. They had a five-year-old son, and the family of three started living in the city of Winter Garden, Florida.
Soon the family was introduced to their neighbor Teresa Sheffield, her husband, and kids, who informed them that the neighborhood was completely safe from any gang invasions. However, on the morning of November 15, 2009, their lives changed completely.
Rubens heard the doorbell and right when he opened the lock, a group of armed men forced their way in. Soon Marcela, Rubins, and their child Ryan, were taken hostage. The gang members ransacked their entire home, grabbing electronics or any valuable items that they noticed.
Soon, Viktor Sanchez and his gang began going through Rubens' business papers. Rubens was working for a successful transportation company, hence, the gang members assumed that the family had a lot of money. As per the Stranger Cases documentary, Marcela and her family were driven to a trailer park in Apopka, Florida.
The hostage family members were eventually directed towards a trailer, where they found a woman wearing a scarf. Marcela soon realized that she was the gang's leader, supplying Viktor Sanchez and his gang members with all the instructions. Her name was Bianca, and she ordered the gang members to return to Marcela's Winter Garden residence.
After searching the house for hours, they found a safe, which was locked with a passcode. The man guarding the trailer, received a call, asking for the code, which Rubens was forced to spill out. The investigators found a sum of $ 30,000 from the safe but still weren't satisfied. Viktor Sanchez, along with Bianca, and the gang members asked the family for a ransom of $ 200,00 in exchange for their freedom.
Marcela revealed that their entire life savings did not total up to that sum, however, the abductors were stubborn with their demands. As per the Stranger Cases documentary, Oscar was the most violent member of the gang, who was ordered to take Marcela to the bank. The next day, Marcela was driven to the bank, where she took out their entire savings worth $ 23,600 in cash.
She handed over the money to Oscar, who soon broke his promise. Rubins was dragged to another room, and the gang members started beating him. A gun was pointed toward Rubins's head, which eventually shifted to Ryan.
He was threatened to ask the sum of $200,000 from his friends and colleagues in debt. Rubin did the same as directed, however, none of them could provide him with such a hefty sum of money.
Viktor Sanchez and the gang members were caught by the police
As per the Stranger Cases documentary, Viktor Sanchez and the gang members drove the family, back to their Winter Garden residence. More than two days had passed since their abduction, and it was on November 17, 2009, when Marcela started feeling unwell. She asked Bianca to direct her to the kitchen, and this came as an opportunity for her.
Right when Bianca was turning in the other direction, Marcela grabbed the kitchen knife and attacked her. However, Bianca immediately resisted it, and soon the two lunged into a fierce fight, which uncovered her scar. Right when Marcela saw Bianca's face, the gang leader called the other members, asking for help.
Soon Marcela was beaten badly with a stick by infuriated Bianca, and soon her face started to bleed. She had to act unconscious for the beatings to stop, which worked. Viktor Sanchez and the gang members began to discuss, when to eliminate the entire family, to wipe out every witness of the crime.
Marcela, upon realizing that they would kill the family, jumped out from the second-floor window and landed with a bang in between two air conditioners. She soon ran towards Teresa's house and begged her to open the door. Realizing the situation, Viktor Sanchez and his men soon came out of the house. Oscar directed the gun and shot at Marcela multiple times, one of his bullets hit her.
However, Teresa came to her rescue, and soon the ambulance arrived. She had called the police who reached the scene. Though the culprits ran away immediately, as per WFTV 9 article, published on May 8, 2012, 20-year-old Viktor Sanchez and his 25-year-old cousin Miguel Diaz were caught less than a quarter mile away from the house. The 19-year-old culprit Oscar Diaz Hernandez was arrested the following day.
However, Bianca dos Santos, who was the mastermind behind the entire invasion, managed to escape the authorities and reportedly flew to Bolivia.
Authorities discovered that Rubins was a client of Bianca and her mother's company, which helped its clients with tax evasion check fraud, and other financial forgery.
Viktor Sanchez and Miguel Diaz were sentenced to imprisonment for life. Charges against Oscar Hernandez were eventually dropped, considering his mental instability, which Marcela and her family agreed to. However, Bianca remains a runaway convict.
To know more about Viktor Sanchez, and the rest of the gang members, watch Lifetime's Terror Comes Knocking: The Marcela Borges Story.
