SANTA ANA, Calif. — In the neighborhood where Tomas Medrano lived, he was known as a hardworking, churchgoing man who doted on his wife and toddler daughter.

There were elaborate parties, neighbors say, and Medrano bought his wife her own car.

But police investigators say everything about that life was built on a lie.

The reality, detectives contend, is that a decade ago a man named Isidro Garcia drugged and kidnapped a 15-year-old girl, raped her and beat her after failed escapes, moved at least four times to hide her identity under a fake name and, after years of psychological abuse, married her and fathered a child.

Garcia, 41, of Bell Gardens, was arrested Monday after the now-25-year-old woman came forward to police after finding her sister on Facebook.