Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ex-con, 18-year-old he kidnapped found
PEMBROKE PINES — Over 1,000 miles and 24 hours after an 18-year-old woman was kidnapped at gunpoint in South Florida, her alleged kidnapper was arrested and the young woman found safe in Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.
After hours of uncertainty, the ordeal came to an end when Nicole Martinez and her alleged kidnapper, Jaddier Sanchez, were both found in Alexandria, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, Pembroke Pines Police said Monday.
Martinez was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries and Sanchez, 37, was in custody, according to police. No other information on how the pair was located was immediately available.
Just after midnight Monday, Virginia State Police troopers saw a truck on Interstate 95 near Springfield, Virginia that was reported stolen in Florida, according to police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. “The pickup pulled over to the shoulder and the driver was taken into custody without incident,” she said.
Martinez was in the truck and was taken to an area hospital for evaluation, according to Geller. Also inside the truck, police found a gun and crack cocaine, she said. Officials did not say whether Martinez had been reunited with her family as of Monday evening.
The incident began just after midnight Sunday when Nicole Martinez and her parents were confronted at their home by 37-year-old Jaddier T. Sanchez, of West Palm Beach, according to the Pembroke Pines Police Department.
He kidnapped the family at gunpoint in front of their home in the 900 Block of SW 147th Terrace, put them in their red Dodge Ram pickup truck, and drove them to multiple banks in the area to withdraw cash, police said.
Around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, the parents, who were not named in a police report, were found on the side of the road in Belle Glade in Palm Beach County, about 60 miles north of their home in Pembroke Pines.
Police believe Martinez and Sanchez “shared a romantic relationship,” but did not offer additional details.
Sanchez does not have a fixed residence, but is reported to reside in West Palm Beach. He was released from the Palm Beach County Jail in May of 2020 after serving 15 years for armed robbery with a deadly weapon, according to records from the Florida Department of Corrections.
Prior to that, he served a year and a half for burglary and aggravated stalking.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact the Pembroke Pines Police Department at
954-431-2200.
Sanchez was charged by Virginia State Police with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, possession of crack cocaine while in possession of a firearm, defacing of the serial number of a firearm and for failing to possess a valid operator’s license, Geller said.
He is being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and will face additional charges when he’s brought back to Florida.