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Kidnapped teen rescued at motel after being held for four days, feds say
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/09/26/kidnapping-teen-california-motel-ransom/Kidnapped teen rescued at motel after being held for four days, feds say
By María Luisa Paúl
September 26, 2023 at 12:09 a.m. EDT
When investigators entered a motel room in Santa Maria, Calif., on Friday morning, they reported finding a loaded gun, a switchblade and three men. In a corner of the room, the abducted 17-year-old they’d been searching for over four days was lying on the floor, according to federal officials.
The rescue at a Motel 6 in central California put an end to a kidnapping case that began about 200 miles away on the morning of Sept. 18 and included a string of threats seeking a $500,000 ransom from the teen’s mother, court records state. At one point, she received a video of her son reading from a script “saying that the abduction was Victim’s father’s fault for an incident that occurred in Yonkers, New York, and saying Victim’s father knew what he stole,” investigators wrote in a complaint.
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said in a news release that “few things can be as terrorizing to a parent as having your child kidnapped and held for ransom under threat of physical harm.”
“Together with the FBI and our local law enforcement partners, we have acted swiftly to rescue the victim and bring the abductors to justice,” Estrada said.
“Together with the FBI and our local law enforcement partners, we have acted swiftly to rescue the victim and bring the abductors to justice,” Estrada said.
[...]
By María Luisa Paúl
September 26, 2023 at 12:09 a.m. EDT
When investigators entered a motel room in Santa Maria, Calif., on Friday morning, they reported finding a loaded gun, a switchblade and three men. In a corner of the room, the abducted 17-year-old they’d been searching for over four days was lying on the floor, according to federal officials.
The rescue at a Motel 6 in central California put an end to a kidnapping case that began about 200 miles away on the morning of Sept. 18 and included a string of threats seeking a $500,000 ransom from the teen’s mother, court records state. At one point, she received a video of her son reading from a script “saying that the abduction was Victim’s father’s fault for an incident that occurred in Yonkers, New York, and saying Victim’s father knew what he stole,” investigators wrote in a complaint.
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said in a news release that “few things can be as terrorizing to a parent as having your child kidnapped and held for ransom under threat of physical harm.”
“Together with the FBI and our local law enforcement partners, we have acted swiftly to rescue the victim and bring the abductors to justice,” Estrada said.
“Together with the FBI and our local law enforcement partners, we have acted swiftly to rescue the victim and bring the abductors to justice,” Estrada said.
[...]