Two held in abduction wanted to raise child

Pair intended to raise 1-year-old and is believed to have attempted an earlier abduction, officials said.

Chamblee assistant police chief describes how mother, held at gunpoint, fought kidnappers“tooth and nail.”

A Monday news conference at the Chamblee police headquarters was punctuated occasionally by a baby’s fussing.

No one minded.

Mateo Alejandro Montufar-Barrera, 1, was abducted Saturday afternoon while his mother pushed him in his stroller. After an hours-long search involving various police agencies, he was discovered in Carroll County and safely returned home.

“It’s a situation that no parent wants to experience,” Chamblee Police Chief Kerry Thomas said.

Maynor Dario Valera Zuniga and Kristin Nicole Valera Zuniga were arrested following a traffic stop. Maynor Zuniga was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, theft by taking, interference with custody and damage to property.

Kristin Zuniga was charged with kidnapping, interference with custody and criminal attempt to commit aggravated assault. Both were being held Monday at the Dekalb County jail.

Mateo’s mother, Leslie Barrera, was ambushed at gunpoint by a man and woman Saturday afternoon. She tried in vain to keep

the couple from taking her child, police said.

“She fought them tooth and nail,” Assistant Chamblee Police Chief Mike Beller said. “She took

his gun and tried to shoot him with it. She tore his shorts and took his shoe. She showed a mother’s love and we are so proud of her.”

Police believe the suspects did not know Barrera or Mateo and had earlier attempted another child abduction. Chamblee police said witnesses reported seeing a couple approach a woman carrying a baby and a blanket. She was able to run away.

“That woman never called 911. We don’t know who she is,” Beller said. “She represents an additional attempted kidnapping charge that we need to make.”

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the Chamblee Police Department.

The suspects’ motive, authorities said, was simply that they wanted a child.

“They intended to raise this baby,” Beller said. It was his duty on Saturday to drive Mateo home to his mother. “He slept the whole way.”

ALYSSA POINTER / ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM Teamwork among law enforcement agencies returned Mateo Alejandro Montufar-Barrera to his family.

Leslie Barrera (left), mother of Mateo Alejandro Montufar-Barrera, sits with her aunt at the Chamblee Police Station. Police said Barrera fought strenuously as a couple kidnapped her 1-year-old son.

AJC FILE Jonathan Gregg (left) and Derek Mize of Decatur, both U.S. citizens, got married in 2015, moved to Georgia two years later and wanted to start a family. They did so through surrogacy, and their daughter, Simone, was born in England. The U.S. State Department claimed she was not a U.S. citizen, but a federal judge has ruled she is.

According to FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker, stranger-on-stranger crimes only occur in 5% of child abductions. And there’s no happy ending in many of the cases. The FBI and GBI were involved in the case.