California police hunt armed man who kidnapped family of four

Sheriff’s deputies in central California are looking for a man they believe is armed and responsible for the kidnapping of a family of four from Merced County.

The family, which includes an eight-month-old child, is believed to have been taken against their will on Monday from a business in the south of Merced County, the sheriff’s office said in a statement shared to their Facebook page on Monday.

Those missing include eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her mother Jasleen Kaur, 27, her father Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39.

The suspect, who has not been identified, is believed to be “armed and considered dangerous” so the sheriff’s office is asking members of the public not to “approach the suspect or victims” and call 911.

Two images of a person they believe to be the suspect were later released by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office on Monday night. The images show a man wearing a black hoodie. No further information was available.

Speaking in a news briefing, Merced County Sheriff Vernon H Warnke said they believed the suspect destroyed any evidence of the kidnapping and the motive for the act remains unknown.

“We have a low-life out there who kidnapped an eight-month-old baby, her mum, her dad and her uncle,” he said. “So far we have no idea why the kidnapping, we have no motivation behind it, we just know that they are gone.”

“We’ve got evidence to indicate that the individuals involved in this destroyed evidence in an attempt to cover-up the tracks”.

A sheriff’s helicopter has been dispatched to search for the family and further updates are expected on Tuesday as the search for the family continues.

Merced, the centre of Merced Couty, is about 77 miles east of San Jose and 55 miles north of Fresno.