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An upcoming episode of CBS 48 Hours will chronicle the kidnapping case of Michelle Renee, a mother-of-one from San Diego County, California. She and her seven-year-old daughter were held hostage at her Vista home and then forced to rob a bank where she worked as a manager to protect her daughter.
Michelle Renee, her daughter, and their roommate were held hostage by three masked intruders who then strapped fake dynamite to their bodies and forced the bank manager to rob the bank. She later assisted authorities in identifying the ringleader of the intruders, who seemed familiar to her. Three out of four perpetrators were eventuallu convicted and given lengthy life terms.
The all-new episode titled The Kidnapping of Michelle and Breea Renee will air on the channel on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at 10:00 pm ET. The official synopsis of the episode states:
"A mother is forced to rob a bank to save her daughter’s life, then her abductor falsely claims the mother was in on the crime."
The Michelle Renee case: Five quick facts to know about the home invasion and kidnapping case of the Vista bank manager
1) Michelle and her daughter were held captive for several hours after the break-in
Michelle Renee, a single mother working as a branch manager at a local bank, and her daughter Breea, who was seven back then, lived in Vista, California, in 2000. The mother-daughter duo was snuggled up on the couch on the night of November 21 when three masked men dressed in all-black broke into their home through the back door.
Two of the men forced Michelle and Breea to the ground and tied them up with duct tape while pointing their guns at their heads. Their flatmate, who arrived later that night at around 11 pm, was also held captive as soon as she entered the house. They were held hostage throughout the night until the next morning when Michelle was to rob the bank.
2) The following morning, the hostages were strapped with what they claimed was dynamite
The intruders had a ringleader who did all the talking and claimed they had been observing Michelle Renee for months. They also instructed her to rob the same bank, where she worked as a manager, the next morning and kept the three hostages throughout the night. They also threatened to kill the hostages if Renee didn't comply with their demands.
The following morning, the men allegedly taped dynamite to their backs. They also showed Renee the detonation device and threatened to set it off if she failed to comply.
3) Michelle Renee stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bank and handed it to the intruders
The next morning, Michelle was forced to drive her Jeep to the bank, with the ringleader crouching in the back seat, who held a gun to her side as she drove. Her daughter and the roommate were still at the house while the other two men kept an eye on them. With dynamite on her back, she waited for the Brinks truck to enter into the vault as soon as it arrived.
Michelle reportedly stuffed a duffle bag that was stashed inside her regular suitcase with money and walked out of the bank with $360,000. She handed the bank to the ringleader, who was still waiting in her vehicle. He gave her a drop-off location and told her to go home immediately. She followed his instructions, arriving home to see the other two hostages uninjured and their dynamite removed.
4) She later helped authorities in identifying the ring leader that led to an arrest not long after
Michelle Renee was later able to identify the ringleader as a man because of his eyes, who had visited the bank a few hours before the kidnapping incident. She asserted that he posed as a customer and even left his business card, which revealed his identity as Christopher Butler. Moreover, the bomb squad found the dynamite, made from broomsticks, was fake.
About two weeks later, Butler and his fiance Lisa Ramirez were both taken into custody after officials found damning evidence in their car, including credit cards under Michelle Renee's name, money straps from the bank, a BB gun that resembled the one Michelle described, the duffel bag used to steal money, black clothes, and ski masks that matched the descriptions provided by the survivors.
5) Three out of four individuals were sentenced in connection to the kidnapping and home invasion case
Christopher Butler and Lisa Ramirez were tried together in June 2002 when the defense tried to undermine the credibility of Michelle Renee's narrative while also implying that she was involved in the robbery during her testimony. Butler later testified that she was the mastermind of the plot and that they once had an affair. He maintained Ramirez's innocence in the case.
Butler was found guilty in connection with the robbery and kidnapping incident, but Lisa Ramirez walked away free after a jury found her not guilty on all charges. The former was sentenced to three life sentences with an additional 64 years. Their two accomplices, identified as Christopher Huggins and Robert Ortiz, confessed and were given three consecutive life terms plus 32 years.
