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'He stole my childhood' | Kidnapped mother prepares to face captor up for parole

Christopher Butler, after spending 24 years in prison for his role in a 2000 bank heist in Vista, will ask a parole board to let him free.

Katy Stegall, Dorian Hargrove, Richard Allyn

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Published: 11:03 PM PST December 18, 2024
Updated: 11:03 PM PST December 18, 2024

Michelle Renee looked at her seven-year-old daughter, thinking it might be the last time she saw her alive. Renee thought about the two red sticks with protruding wires duct-taped to her daughter Breea's back. 

Breea bravely said goodbye to her mom before her masked captors shoved her into a bedroom closet with her pink Game Boy.  

Before leaving her Vista home, the masked man Renee knew as 'Money One' gave her a stark reminder. 

"You have about 10 minutes to say whatever it is you'd want to say to your daughter because it might be the last thing you ever say to her if you screw up," Renee remembers Money One saying to her on the morning of November 22, 2000.

After the stark warning, Renee and the man known as Money One got into her red Jeep Wrangler and drove to the Bank of America branch in Vista, where she worked as the bank manager. She drove while sitting straight up, hoping not to disturb the dynamite strapped to her back. 

"You're driving, and you're seeing these people in the car next to you, just having a normal morning, going to work, and I still have the dynamite on my back," Renee said. "I just want to scream for somebody to please help me and help us and tell somebody what's going on. And I can't."

When Renee arrived at the bank, she entered the vault and showed a coworker what she believed was the dynamite.

"She just began hyperventilating and going, 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.' I remember telling her to calm down and to get ready to shut the bank down," said Renee. "I told her I had five minutes, or we're gonna blow. I just started stuffing stacks of cash into a bag."

Credit: KFMB

Renee left the Bank of America with $360,000. She got into the Jeep, handed Money One the cash, and drove away. 

Money One told Renee to drive into a nearby neighborhood and park. Once parked, the man in the ski mask told Renee to get out of the Jeep and start walking. Money One told her where she could find her red Jeep. 

After walking a few blocks, Renee found her Jeep and saw the getaway car drive away.

"My first thought was to get a pen and write everything down. I wrote all over the seat of my car," said Renee. "It turned out to be really helpful for the police."

Renee then rushed home to her daughter. Only after she arrived home did the nightmare finally end.

Breea was safe. 

Credit: KFMB

During the police investigation, Renee learned that the dynamite was not real. She also told investigators about a strange interaction she had with a prospective client at the bank the morning before the kidnapping. She said the man said something about opening a business account but started rambling. She told detectives that the man handed her his card, which was still on her desk.

Detectives retrieved the card. 

On the card was a man's name, Christopher Butler.  

Butler and his two accomplices, Christopher Huggins and Robert Ortiz were soon arrested. 

On Dec. 20, after spending 24 years in prison, Butler, the man Renee knew as 'Money One,' will be up for parole. Renee plans to speak.

It will be the third time Butler stood before the board requesting a chance at freedom. 

They say he shouldn't be let out yet.

"I think, like with the others, I've been looking for clear evidence of remorse, looking for clear evidence of the deep work that needs to be done so there are not any of those dangerous red flags in terms of whether everyone will be safe if he's released," she said. "I cannot say with any confidence that I've seen any of those signs from Mr. Butler."

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