Gina M. Garcia is the 1%. Ninety-nine percent of all children abducted by a stranger are murdered within the first 24 hours, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). At the tender age of eight, Gina saved herself by jumping out of a moving car half-naked, after being brutally raped and assaulted at knife point, at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, Florida on October 12, 1981. Which many people believe she was taken by the same person that abducted and murdered Adam Walsh, (son of John Walsh, the host and creator of America’s Most Wanted). After Gina’s innocence was stolen, she experienced decades of self-destructive behavior including dropping out of high school and college. Gina’s abduction occurred two and half months, and only three hours north, from the disappearance and murder of Adam Walsh. Because of the lack of a central database, the connection between the two abductions did not occur until decades later. During the late 70’s and early 80’s, the Atlanta child murders were happening, and Etan Patz appeared on the infamous milk carton campaign following his abduction in 1979. Unfortunately, most of the cases ended in the death of a child, with Gina being the very rare exception to have escaped with her life. In 2006, Gina was once again victimized when her business was burglarized in an apparent hate crime, thus triggering suppressed memories of that horrific day twenty-five years earlier. She began to feel like she was losing her mind and sought out mental health treatment from the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital, where she was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). There she learned the necessary tools to live with PTSD. In truth, Gina’s life comes across as a John Grisham novel more so than a traditional American tale. Her father, the handsome Puerto Rican American spy, flew over 100 combat missions into enemy territory under the disguise of Air America, a division of the CIA. Gina’s mother, a Filipina beauty queen, whose father was born in Spain, but served in the U.S. Navy, was captured by the Japanese during World War II and was one of the survivors of the Japanese death march for which he was designated as a prisoner of war and received a purple heart. Gina was born in Tehran, Iran and at the age of three, her family had to be abruptly relocated after her father caught wind of the revolution that was getting ready to occur and American’s were being taken hostage. Her family finally set roots at the greatest place on earth-- the home of Disney World -- Orlando, Florida. Gina and her siblings (two older sisters and one older brother) adapted well to life in the United States, and eventually followed in her family’s footsteps of serving their country by joining the United States Navy. Gina was assigned to NATO Supreme Allied Command Atlantic, where she held a top-secret clearance. At the end of her enlistment, Gina became an entrepreneur with several businesses under her belt, most notably Trikaroo - a line of small footprint electric passenger vehicles inspired by her mothers’ company in the Philippines operating Pedicabs and Jipneys. Wanting to connect with her mother’s heritage and learn the art of film making, she moved to the Philippines in 2009 to attend film school, where her families love of films goes back to her great-grandfather opening the first movie theater in that country. With Gina’s deep understanding of the journey of healing, from the long-term effects of sexual trauma, she was inspired to write a script with hopes of helping other survivors. During an award ceremony for a film project she had helped produce, Gina bumped into award-winning writer/director Patty Jenkins, whom she admired for her work on ‘Monster.’ She believed Ms. Jenkins was the only one who could direct her story and asked her, but was told “No Gina-- you have to tell your story.” Gina stated she wasn’t a director, but Ms. Jenkins response was “you will be when you are done”. Never in her wildest dreams did Gina imagine that the director of ‘Monster’ would teach her how to be her own ‘Wonder Woman!’ With Patty Jenkins as mentor, Gina wrote, produced and directed her life story in her directorial debut “Untold: This is My Story” which she self-funded, adapted into a book called “Untold: I am the 1%” and launched a charity called the “The Untold Project” where survivors of sexual assault have a safe space to tell their own stories. Gina believes that when it comes to trauma, no story should go UNTOLD!
