Kidnapped teen found after captors threaten to cut off body parts, demand $500,000 ransom
Three men are facing life sentences for allegedly kidnapping a 17-year-old from California and threatening his mother to pay a $500,000 ransom for his safety, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The defendants were arrested Friday morning and are charged in a federal criminal complaint alleging they kidnapped the boy from Highland, California and held him for ransom nearly 200 miles away in Santa Maria, California.
The DOJ identified Fidel Jesús Patino Jaimes, 22, Jair Tomás Ramos Domínguez, 26, and Ezequiel Felix López, 27, as the suspects. All three told law enforcement they were from Santa Maria.
On the morning of Sept. 18, the three defendants allegedly caused a car collision in San Bernardino County where the victim crashed into their silver-colored Jeep Grand Cherokee, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint. The 17-year-old then exited his vehicle where the alleged captors took him and forced him into their Jeep, the DOJ stated.
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Victim was forced victim to read off a script in video to his mother
Later that day, the victim's mother received a call from a Mexican phone number and the caller demanded she deliver $500,000 to an unspecified location in Nogales, Mexico for the safety of her son. The caller blamed the abduction on the victim's father, according to authorities.
The mother then received a video from a separate Mexican telephone number via WhatsApp showing the victim in the backseat of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the DOJ stated. Reading off a script, the victim said the adduction was his father's fault for an incident that occurred in New York and said, "You know what you stole."
The speaker also threatened to cut off body parts of the victim unless the payment was made, the DOJ stated. The ransom demand eventually went down to $100,000 but was never paid.
Authorities identified kidnappers vehicle
Law enforcement officials found the alleged captors and the victim at a motel in Santa Maria, California after identifying their vehicle from the kidnapping in a Facebook Marketplace posting, reviewing Ring door camera footage and using a search warrant. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Maria Police Department and the FBI played a role in their apprehension.
Authorities found the victim lying on the floor in a corner of the room, the DOJ reported.
"Few things can be as terrorizing to a parent as having your child kidnapped and held for ransom under threat of physical harm," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada in the DOJ statement. "Together with the FBI and our local law enforcement partners, we have acted swiftly to rescue the victim and bring the abductors to justice. I commend the agents and officers for their heroic efforts to free the victim and prevent a devastating tragedy from occurring."
The defendants' felony carries a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment, the DOJ reported. They are scheduled to appear at the U.S. District Court in Riverside, California on Monday.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California teen rescued after kidnapping, $500,000 ransom demand
