A man was seen taking 2 zip-tied family members and later the mother and the baby.
Trigger Warning: This article contains details of kidnapping, suicide, and death that may be distressing to readers.
The search for four family members who were mysteriously kidnapped in Northern California has ended in tragedy. The bodies of Jasleen Kaur, 27, Jasdeep Singh, 36, and their 8-month-old baby, Aroohi Dheri along with the baby's uncle Amandeep Singh, 39 were recovered from a rural farm area days after being abducted at gunpoint. “Tonight, our worst fears have been confirmed,” Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said during a news conference Wednesday night, according to CNN. “Horribly, horribly senseless what happened here.”
In surveillance footage released by officials, the horrifying moment the family was kidnapped was captured on film. They were kidnapped by a man armed with a gun at their business and forced into a truck. Just before 9 a.m. on Monday, Jasdeep encountered a man outside the business. The suspect walked into the family's business carrying a trash bag. He later appeared to pull out a firearm after dropping off the trash bag. Later Jasdeep and Amandeep, hands tied behind their backs, were seen taken into the truck. The truck then left and returned six minutes later. The man comes back and takes Jasleen, who is carrying baby Aroohi, to the pickup truck. That was the last time the victims were seen alive.
The suspect has been identified as 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado. According to ABC 10, he used one of the victim's ATM cards in the city of Atwater and he was able to be identified as a person of interest in the case. He later tried to kill himself but ended up being booked into jail. He was a former employee who had a longtime dispute with the family. Salgado used to send angry texts or emails about a year ago after working with the family's trucking business. The longstanding quarrel “got pretty nasty.” “I believe that he had someone else with him and at least helping him do some of the things. As far as the homicide itself, we are going to let the evidence take us where it needs to take us,” Sheriff Vern Warnke said. According to ABC 7, he was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon and transported to the hospital in critical condition after he tried to kill himself. On Thursday night, he was booked into the Merced County Jail. He is now facing four counts of murder and four counts of kidnapping. "There are no words to describe the anger I feel," Warnke said during a press conference Wednesday evening. "There's a special place in hell for this guy."
References:
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/05/us/california-family-missing-wednesday/index.html
Cover Image Source: YouTube | ABC News
