Family friend among 3 suspects in kidnapping
Baby boy back with a `very relieved' mother
SAN JOSE >> At least one of the three suspects arrested in connection with kidnapping a 3-month-old infant from an apartment Monday was a friend of the child's family, authorities said April 27.
The revelation came as San Jose police for the first time released the names of the three suspects, including the man who brazenly snatched the baby boy from a San Jose apartment and took off, in broad daylight, sparking a frantic 18-hour search by law enforcement that garnered national attention and put the South Bay on watch.
Still, many questions remain unanswered, including the suspects' motives for the abduction, the relationship between the three individuals and the roles two of them played in the crime.
The manhunt for the missing boy and the suspects accused of kidnapping him began just after 1 p.m. April 25 after officers received a report of a missing baby in the 1000 block of Elm Street, two blocks from Bellarmine College Preparatory. It ended Tuesday morning as law enforcement descended on an east side neighborhood on a tip from someone who worked nearby and found the 3-month-old safe.
The child's grandmother told police that after going on a shopping trip April 25, she momentarily went outside to unload groceries from her car. By the time she returned, the child, who had been wearing a white long-sleeved onesie with dinosaurs on it, was gone, police said.
One of the three suspects is Yesenia Guadalupe Ramirez, 43, of San Jose, who allegedly took the baby and the boy's grandmother — a friend of Ramirez — to run errands prior to the kidnapping, according to San Jose police Sgt. Christian Camarillo.
Ramirez, who was initially named a “person of interest” April 26, changed her statements to police multiple times while being interviewed after the kidnapping and authorities deemed her “suspicious,” according to a police news release.
In addition to Ramirez, the other two people arrested were identified as San Jose residents Jose Roman Portillo, 28, and Baldomeo Sandoval, 37. Camarillo said April 27 that he could not confirm whether Sandoval or Portillo had a relationship with the baby's family nor say what role Sandoval played in the kidnapping.
Portillo was identified as the man who had been captured on surveillance footage walking down the street holding a child's car seat and approaching the residence. Police said he went into the apartment and kidnapped the infant.
San Jose police arrested Portillo in San Jose after executing a search warrant on his home, where the baby was found healthy and unharmed, authorities said. The baby was taken to Regional Medical Center for a precautionary medical examination and then reunited with his family.
“The baby seemed happy in good spirits back with mom. She was very, very relieved,” Camarillo said. “It's triumphant for our police department, for the city, for our community. I grew up in an era where missing kids ended up on milk cartons because they were never found and who knows what happened to them. As a parent, you think worst case.”
Police issued an endangered missing person alert rather than an Amber Alert because they didn't initially have vehicle information or a license plate, and then later in the search didn't want to release details of the vehicle used in the abduction for fear of tipping off the suspect, Camarillo said. He also said police already knew about the suspect vehicle when the California Highway Patrol put out an alert Tuesday about a 2011 silver Nissan Quest and then deleted it. Police confirmed they received a tip about the car.
“Minutes after that alert was issued, our covert detectives located the car,” Camarillo said. “We were already watching that vehicle and knew where the vehicle was when that tip came in.”
All three suspects are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon. They were booked into jail on charges of kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, child abduction and home invasion, Camarillo said, adding that the charges may change as the investigation continues.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office was expected to meet with police Wednesday to review the evidence and then make a charging decision, according to spokesperson Sean Webby.
Chris Martinez, director of operations at Canyon Springs Post Acute Care, located near the home where the baby was found, said his co-worker saw a gray Nissan parked outside their facility on Mather Drive at about 8 a.m. April 26 and realized it matched the description of a vehicle sought at one point by the CHP in connection with the kidnapping.
His co-worker, who he said doesn't wish to speak to the media, went to get a closer look at the car. After seeing an empty car seat inside, she called the San Jose Police Department, who arrived on the scene and blocked off the vehicle, before turning their attention to a second vehicle down the street, Martinez said.
Martinez later saw authorities apprehend a man.
“We were concerned citizens, and we need to be more concerned not only with what goes on here but outside our facility as well,” Martinez said.
The police department said it used every resource at its disposal to find the infant and received assistance from the FBI'S Child Abduction Response Team, said Camarillo. That included officers and agents going door to door in the area to find any possible witnesses.
“This incident is a parent's worst nightmare,” said San Jose police Chief Anthony Mata, “and we're fortunate that this resulted in a positive outcome.”