what to know
- Aroohi Dheri, eight-month-old; mother Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, 36; Uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, in Merced on Monday (Merced) company was kidnapped at gunpoint.
- Newly released video shows the horrific moment the family was taken by an unknown kidnapper with their hands tied to zippers.
- A man described as a “person of interest” told some of his family he was involved but remains hospitalised after a suicide attempt. Investigators believe a second person was involved.
Relatives of a family kidnapped at gunpoint during a trucking operation in central California on Wednesday pleaded for help finding an 8-month-old girl, her mother, father and uncle.
Authorities showed surveillance footage of a man kidnapping baby Aroohi Dheri at a news conference on Wednesday; the child’s mother Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, 36; 39 from Merced on Monday Uncle Amandeep Singh
The trucking company did not steal anything, but their relatives were wearing jewelry, the family said. Merced County Sheriff Fern Warnke said an ATM card belonging to one of the victims was used in Atwater, a city about 9 miles (14 kilometers) north of Merced, following the kidnapping.
Relatives of the victims asked anyone with a convenience store or gas station in the area to check their surveillance cameras for images of the suspect or family members. They said they were concerned that the baby was not being fed because the family did not bring any baby food at the time of the kidnapping.
“Please help us, come forward and get my family home safely,” said Sukhdeep Singh, the victim’s brother, in a hoarse voice.
Relatives of Jesus Salgado, 48, contacted authorities to report that he had admitted to them that he was involved in the family’s kidnapping, Warnke said Tuesday. Salgado, who attempted suicide before police arrived at a home in Atwater, said he was hospitalized.
Warnke said the kidnappers did not ask for any ransom.
The family told another news outlet that the trucking company’s office only opened about a week ago.
“My husband is a very calm and calm person. We don’t know why they kidnapped them,” said Jasperet Kaur, the wife of the kidnapped uncle.
Detectives believe the kidnappers destroyed unspecified evidence in an attempt to cover his tracks, the sheriff said.
Firefighters found a pickup truck belonging to Amandeep Singh on fire on Monday, the sheriff’s office said. Officers from the Merced Police Department arrived at the home of Amandeep Singh, where a family member tried to reach him and the couple. When they couldn’t reach the family, they called the Merced County Sheriff’s Office to report them missing, the office said.
The FBI, the California Department of Justice and other local law enforcement agencies are assisting in the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff officials in central California have released photos of a possible suspect in the kidnapping of a family of four, including an 8-month-old child.