Kidnappers still at large

Police places emphasis on their capture

Porterville police are soliciting the assistance of Tulare County Sheriff’s Department C.A.T.C.H. (County Apprehension Team Tracking Criminals in Hiding), to help track down the two men responsible for the kidnapping of a woman and two children Friday afternoon in Porterville.

Police Chief Eric Kroutil said Monday, officers were actively searching for the two suspects who fled on foot when officers located their vehicle and freed the three victims about two hours after a state-wide Amber Alert was issued Friday night.

The two men took a 22-year-old woman, her 20-month-old child and a 10-year-old child by force Friday afternoon after they assaulted another man at a residence on Ohio Street.

Kroutil said it took time to get out the Amber Alert.

“It’s a long process to get an Amber Alert,” said the chief, who added his office and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office were flooded with phone calls after the alert went out about 7 p.m. on Friday.

However, it was good police work by detectives who located the vehicle and freed the victims unharmed.

When officers arrived at a residence in the 100 block of South E Street just before 10 p.m. Friday, the two suspects ran and have eluded capture.

They are Valentin Angel Villasenor, 20, 5-foot-7, thin build, medium black hair, brown eyes and black mustache, and Juan Santos Martinez, 40, 5-foot-2, 140 pounds, black hair and brown eyes, are believed armed and dangerous.

The woman and her small child, along with the woman’s 10-year-old brother, were forced at gunpoint into a vehicle during a disturbance about 2 p.m. at a house on Ohio Street. Dur-

ing that disturbance, a man at the residence was assaulted and pistol-whipped by one of the men.

Taken were Maria Sanchez Palomares, 22, and her 20-month-old daughter Deleyza Ceron. Officers

also learned that Villasenor and Palomares were dating, however, neither suspect is the father of the child.

“It’s a scary moment for everybody when you have a young child involved,” said the chief.

Kroutil said C.A.T.C.H. is an effective team.

“They’re a great

team,” he said of those who post the county’s Top 10 Most Wanted List and who have captured scores of those already.

Anyone that has information on the whereabouts of the two men involved, is asked to call 911 or the Porterville Police Department at 782-7400.