Suspect in California kidnapping is in custody as family is still missing
A man suspected of kidnapping a Sikh family, including an 8-month-old baby, in central California tried to kill himself Tuesday and is hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. The family is still missing.
The Merced county sheriff’s office said in a statement that investigators identified Jesus Salgado, 48, after he used a victim’s ATM card.
The family was kidnapped Monday at gunpoint from a business in Merced, 125 miles (201 km) south-east of San Francisco, the office said, without providing further details. According to Naindeep Singh, the head of a local Sikh community organization, the four were taken from the gas station and convenience store they own.
Merced county sheriff Vernon Warnke said the man took the baby, Aroohi Dheri; the child’s mother, Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, 36; and uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, on Monday.
Detectives obtained a surveillance photo from the ATM in Atwater, a city about 9 miles (14 km) north of Merced, and “the person is similar in appearance to the surveillance photo from the original kidnapping scene,” the office said in a statement.
The sheriff’s office had released two still images of a possible suspect seen in surveillance footage, and asked for the public’s help in identifying him.
Detectives received information that identified Salgado as a person of interest and that he attempted to take his own life before police arrived, the statement said, without specifying where he was taken into custody.
The sheriff’s office will hold a news conference Wednesday to give more details.
Naindeep Singh said the family has asked for privacy. “They’re in shock and worried about the family and the baby. They are in a lot of grief,” he said.
Warnke said the kidnapper made no ransom demands or contact of any kind.
The sheriff said detectives think the kidnapper destroyed unspecified evidence in an attempt to cover his tracks.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that firefighters on Monday found a pickup truck belonging to Amandeep Singh that was on fire. Merced police department officers went to Singh’s home where a family member tried to reach him and the couple. When they were not able to reach their family members, they called the Merced county sheriff ’s office to report them missing, the office said.
The sheriff’s office said the FBI, the California department of justice and other local law enforcement agencies are helping with the investigation.