Looking at Marina Chapman now, you wouldn’t think she’s much different than any other elderly British woman. But traces of a complicated and mysterious past still linger behind her infectious smile. Her accent is the first giveaway. Her stories explain the rest.
You see, before Marina came to live with her husband and children in the United Kingdom, she spent the majority of her life in Colombia. Her life there was far from quiet or even normal. It all began when she found herself abandoned in a rainforest at the age of five. She thought that could’ve been the end of her—until a family of monkeys came along.
The Girl Who Was Raised By Monkeys
Marina claims that she was saved and raised by monkeys in the rainforests of Colombia as a child. And yes, she’s aware of how unbelievable that all sounds. Her story has been questioned and rejected by book publishers many times. She has been accused of being a fantasist, too.
Still, she remained firm and stood by the remarkable childhood story she remembers. Whether people believed her tales or not, Marina was determined to share her experiences with the world. And it’s truly something that seems straight out of Rudyard Kipling’s famous collection of stories, The Jungle Book.
The Day Marina’s Life Changed Forever
Her first memory is a harrowing one. Instead of her birth parents or a happy childhood, she remembers being kidnapped from her village just before her fifth birthday. Marina recalled playing outside one moment and then being dragged off by two strangers the next.
Recalling the traumatizing events, she said that one of the people covered her mouth with a white handkerchief. She suspects that it was doused in chloroform, which made it easy to knock her out. That would be the last time she’d ever see her childhood home.
Unknown Motives
Marina’s kidnapping happened in the ‘50s at a troubled time in Colombia’s history dubbed as “La Violencia.” The country was in the middle of civil war, and millions of people had to be separated from their homes. The exact motives for her abduction remained a mystery, though.
It could’ve been motivated by trafficking, as Marina remembers hearing other children during the ordeal. But the subsequent actions taken by the people who kidnapped her seem to indicate otherwise. Instead of selling her off or forcing her to work, they did the unthinkable.
A Dangerous Drop Off
When Marina came to her senses, she realized she was being transported in a car. She didn’t know where they were going until the vehicle stopped. The kidnappers then took her outside and just left her there. Her surroundings indicated she was in the middle of a rainforest.
To be stranded and defenseless in the middle of the wilderness is a dangerous situation even for grown adults. Imagine how much more critical it is for a little girl to be dropped off in that kind of place. No wonder Marina was so scared at the time.
Hello! Anybody?
Left to the mercy of the jungle, she hoped that her kidnappers would eventually return to get her. They never did. And so, she was left to look for help on her own. She screamed for other people who might be in the area. Nobody answered. All she could do was cry.
She didn’t lose hope right away, though, walking around looking for other signs of life. Yet, Marina saw none. She soon found her dress tattering away as she was exposed to the harsh elements that came with being in a rainforest.
A Cold Welcome From The Forest Residents
Her patience was rewarded two days later when she finally came across some forest inhabitants: a family of small monkeys! And although they weren’t exactly people, Marina was happy to see at least someone (or something) that resembled humans.
Finding comfort in their presence, she decided to stay near where the monkeys lived. Unfortunately, the little creatures didn’t give her a warm welcome at all. They simply ignored her and carried on their usual business of looking for food. Looking back, Marina was grateful that her newfound companions didn’t end up attacking her instead.
From The Outside Looking In
With her tattered clothes and hairless body, Marina was an obvious outsider to the monkeys’ eyes. She stayed that way for a long time, too. The girl simply watched them from afar, feeling envious of how they had each other to play with and have fun.
Marina was, after all, just a kid seeking the companionship of others in the absence of her own family. However, the monkeys simply wanted nothing to do with her. That didn’t stop her from sticking around, trying to follow the things the monkeys did so she can survive the harsh conditions of the forest.
A Painful Turning Point
Far from the kind of comforts she was used to, Marina knew at the time that she would eventually fall sick. Her fears came true one day when she got a terrible case of food poisoning from eating tamarind. She had consumed the fruit before but got her hands on a bad batch that caused her stomach to act up horribly.
Far from any kind of doctor or signs of civilization, all the help she had were a family of monkeys that didn’t care for her—or so she thought. The incident marked a turning point in her relationship with her reluctant companions.
“Grandpa” Comes To The Rescue
Writhing and screaming in pain on the forest floor, Marina found a savior in “Grandpa,” a monkey she nicknamed for its sprinkling of white hair. As it turns out, Grandpa witnessed her ordeal and decided to come to her rescue! He began nudging the girl to move as if directing her to go somewhere.
Marina tried to follow him with all her strength, finally coming across a mossy bank with a water basin. Grandpa then shoved her head in the muddy stream until she was almost choking on the dirty water. She eventually purged out the tamarind, thankful for her little rescuer.
The New Member Of The Pack
Things changed quickly following the poisoning incident. Suddenly, the monkeys weren’t so cold to Marina anymore. Grandpa became her protector somehow, and his family soon accepted her as another member of the pack. They even let her sit with them atop the trees. She had to earn her spot in the canopy, though.
Marina made an effort to learn how to climb trees. Her training began with scaling smaller branches. And although she often fell at first, she was determined to become even more accepted by her monkey family. Her body eventually developed enough to adapt to the task better, and she took her place with pride.
You’ve Got A Friend In Me
What made Marina even happier is becoming closer with a monkey she called Mia. Shy at first, she won the creature’s trust by defending her from the other members of the pack. Using her larger size, she stopped the others from pushing Mia around.
The task was quite easy to do, though. Capuchins, widely believed to be the kind of monkeys Marina lived with, only grow up to about 22 inches tall (plus a tail of equal length). Safe to say, the duo had the kind of friendship you thought you’d only see in a Disney movie.
The Rediscovery Of Her Own Species
Time passed, and Marina finally got used to her new life with her monkey family. Still, she knew in the back of her mind that she wasn’t one of them. What’s more, she got a glimpse of her previous life as a human girl when she came upon three huts and a group of humans while exploring the forest.
Seeing them awakened something in her; it was as if she was rediscovering her humanity. After years of living with the monkeys, Marina finally got a chance to encounter her own species. Curious about the people, she spent hours watching the children and their parents from afar.
Turned Away By Her Own Kind
One day, when she was observing a woman and her child, Marina finally got the attention of the forest-dwellers. The bad news was that her presence was met with fear and rejection once again. The first human touch she experienced in years was with the woman’s husband.
He came rushing to his wife’s side upon hearing her scream when she spotted Marina watching her. The man took the girl’s face as if to examine her closely. However, he soon lost interest after he inspected her teeth, perhaps wondering if she was some kind of animal. In the end, he turned the poor girl away despite her begging to stay.
Craving For A Different Life
From then on, Marina began craving for a different kind of life. For all the kindness the monkeys have shown her, she still longed for other humans. She simply wanted to be with her kind but didn’t know how to go about it.
Her opportunity to reintegrate into society came when she spotted some hunters entering the jungle. Carrying weapons, she was understandably intimidated by them. But her desire for human contact got the better of her. And so, walking on all fours and without clothes, she pleaded to be rescued from the forest.
A Not-So-Glorious Reintroduction To Society
Unfortunately, life didn’t become easy for Marina right away. The hunters ended up selling her to a cathouse, where Gloria became her new name. Things weren’t glorious for her at all, as she got forced to clean the place and received regular beatings, too.
She had one stroke of luck during her unlucky streak, though. Before getting sold off to her first “customer,” Marina managed to escape the cathouse. With no money or other place to call home, she found herself living on the streets of Cúcuta along with other homeless kids.
The Day She Became Pony Malta
Living on the streets is far from an ideal kind of lifestyle, but there was one perk that Marina got from it. It was there that she found a new set of friends, who were also homeless at the time. They rechristened her “Pony Malta” because of how she resembled the famous soft drink bottle.
Finding herself in another vulnerable situation, Marina saw her survival skills kick in. But unlike in the forest, food didn’t come for free in Cúcuta. Without an honest way of earning a paycheck, she resorted to stealing and used the skills she learned from her monkey family.
A Handsy Modus Operandi
Marina specifically targeted young, wealthy women, preferably those wearing skirts. Her modus operandi involved her pulling down the victim’s underwear and then running away with their belongings once they became distracted. Her climbing skills came in handy when it came to dodging capture.
With the stolen money secured, Marina would hide from the police in the treetops. She didn’t have to do this for long, though. Soon, the girl found a way out of the streets from one of her friends. Unfortunately, Her hardships would only begin anew once she had a roof over her head.
No More Stealing
One day, an old friend of hers told her that she could escape the streets by working as a housekeeper. The job came with board and lodging, something Marina never really had for herself for a long time. Wanting to follow her friend’s example, she found herself an employer.
Finally, she could stop stealing and start living an honest life with the bonus of having a roof over her head. If only things were that simple. Just as she thought her life was about to change for the better, it seems like bad luck always found a way to ruin things for Marina.
New Name, Same Old Story
Working for a new employer, Marina had to change her name once again. She got rechristened to Rosalba. But while she had a new name, her story remained the same. As it turns out, the household she ended up choosing was a local mafia family who enslaved her.
Marina just couldn’t catch a break. Up to that point, her life has been a series of unfortunate events after another. Then a teenager, she’s been fighting for her life every day since she was five. Nonetheless, we’re glad she was strong enough to survive everything life threw at her up to that point.
A Savior Called Maruja
Ever the survivor, Marina was able to escape her captors eventually. She did so with the help of a neighbor named Maruja. A mother to nine children, the woman likely took pity on our unlucky protagonist. She showed her immense kindness and practically saved her by sending Marina to live with one of her daughters.
Before sending her off to Bogotá, Maruja showered her with the kind of material things no one has ever given her. Marina received the first present she ever remembered receiving: a box filled with a hair clip, a pale blue satin dress, and a new pair of white shoes matched with white socks.
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Marina was around 14 years old when Maruja’s daughter, Maria, adopted her. Once again, she would receive a new name. But this time, it would be one that she chose for herself. The name was Luz Marina, after the famous Colombian beauty queen who won the Miss Universe competition in 1958.
It seems as though Marina chose the perfect name. Luz meant “light” in Spanish, and here she was, finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Her adoption marked the beginning of the happy times in her life.
From The Animal Kingdom To The United Kingdom
Once living in the animal kingdom with a family of monkeys, Marina found herself in a different kind of kingdom in the late ‘70s. With her adoptive parents doing well financially, she got sent to Bradford, England as a nanny to the family’s other children.
It was there that she met a man named John Chapman while at church. Despite having different faiths and speaking different languages, the two fell in love. They were wed to each other only a few months after their first meeting and have remained married ever since.
Old Habits Die Hard
Marina adjusted quite well to her new life as a wife and mother in the United Kingdom, but some old habits die hard. When it was time to raise her two daughters, she ended up resorting to some of the things she learned in her childhood.
Her younger daughter Vanessa James actually recalls a time when her mother would make her and her sister, Joanna, make noises whenever they wanted food. She said growing up with Marina as a mom is fun, though, as she taught them how to climb trees and told them interesting stories.
No Secrets In The Household
You see, Marina was open about her colorful past to her family. She began sharing her story to her husband after their wedding and would continue telling him piece by piece over the years that followed. It seems like their initial language barrier really made it difficult for them to communicate fully.
Meanwhile, Marina also regaled her daughters with bedtime stories of her time with the monkeys. They were wary of telling the same tales to those outside the family, though. And so, the full extent of her background was never known by neighbors or Bradford acquaintances until Marina decided to talk about it.
The Girl With No Name
With Vanessa’s help, Marina wrote the book, The Girl With No Name: The Incredible True Story of a Child Raised by Monkeys. Published in 2012, it garnered a lot of attention due to its compelling premise. The interviews the Chapman family gave also helped the story gain international media attention.
The autobiography still holds favorable ratings on Goodreads and Amazon nine years since its release. It was clear that many people were drawn to her life’s story, which many described as a fight for survival. Despite the number of critics who alluded to Marina’s tales being fake, she touched many people’s hearts.
A Colombian Homecoming
Although Marina couldn’t be happier with the life she’s built in Bradford, she remained curious about her origins. Five years before her book was published, she returned to her home country, Colombia, with Vanessa.
Marina was hoping to find her birth family and locate the village she grew up in as a child. The mother-daughter sent appeals to the media, something that’s reportedly not unusual in the South American nation due to the number of abduction cases. Their call was soon answered by one woman, whose name greatly intrigued Vanessa.
The Search Comes To A Dead End
The woman who came forward was named Marina Luz. The significance of this wasn’t lost at all on Vanessa. She began wondering whether the stranger was her mother’s sister. Or could it be that she only gave those first names knowing that Marina would be more receptive?
In the end, Marina chose not to see the woman. Instead, she reconnected with her adoptive family during the trip. Sadly, that’s where her journey to uncover her identity ended. The military reportedly prevented her from trying to retrace the place near the jungle where she had lived originally.
Making Sense Of A Complicated Past
Luckily, those roadblocks didn’t hamper her desire to make sense of her complicated past. As an adult, she realized just how impactful her early life experiences affected how she lived her life in the present. She particularly noted how her days living on the streets taught her how to fight back.
Marina has taken this will to survive and applied it in various aspects of her life. She never backs down against any problem. What’s more, her husband said that she was physically strong, too, remembering how she made a workout out of climbing their church to decorate its roof.
She’s Lived An Accomplished Life
We don’t doubt that Marina found a way to go on with her life. She’s been doing so since her childhood, no matter what seemingly insurmountable challenge came her way. Even better, she has a loyal pack member in her former church organist husband, who she can rely on to stay by her side as they grow older together.
Now, in her 70s, she’s likely enjoying retirement after such an eventful life. Aside from being a housewife and a devoted church member, Marina accomplished a lot of training as a cook. She even worked at the National Media Museum in Bradford and strived to help troubled children along the way.
One Final Wish
Still, Marina wishes to return to Colombia some day and finish the search she started years ago once and for all. She continues to dream about finding her birth family and maybe even returning to the rainforest she once called her home.
And impossible as it may seem, she can’t help but wonder about the possibility of a recurrent dream. If monkeys could live as long as people can, she hoped her simian saviors would still remember her. For after all the years that have passed, Marina herself has never forgotten them.