Man arrested for kidnapping California family of four but victims remain missing

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Sheriff’s deputies in central California have taken a person of interest into custody in connection with the kidnapping of a family of four from Merced County.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday that 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado had been taken into custody as a “person of interest” while the family remained missing.

His arrest came after sheriff’s deputies said they received an alert from a bank in the City of Atwater, about 10 miles northeast of Merced, where a bank card belonging to one of the kidnapping victims had been used at an ATM.

While an image of a man deputies believed to be Mr Salgado was shared on its Facebook page, the sheriff’s office said the man pictured on CCTV using the bank card was not Mr Salgado.

It remains unclear if Mr Salgado is the main suspect who police warned was armed and dangerous on Monday after the family of four– including an eight-month-old child – were taken against their will from a business in the south of Merced County.

Eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her mother Jasleen Kaur, 27, her father Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39, are those missing, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.

Speaking in a news briefing on Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vernon H Warnke said they believed the suspect destroyed any evidence of the kidnapping and the motive for the act remains unknown.

“We have a low-life out there who kidnapped an eight-month-old baby, her mum, her dad and her uncle,” he said. “So far we have no idea why the kidnapping, we have no motivation behind it, we just know that they are gone. We’ve got evidence to indicate that the individuals involved in this destroyed evidence in an attempt to cover-up the tracks”.

On Tuesday night, Mr Salgado was said to be receiving medical care and critical attention after “attempting to take his own life” prior to being arrested, the sheriff’s office said in the statement on Facebook about his arrest.

His family are said to have informed sheriff’s deputies that he admitted to being involved in the kidnapping of the family of four, ABC 7 News reported on Tuesday.

Merced, the centre of Merced County, is about 77 miles east of San Jose and 55 miles north of Fresno.

A press conference is due on Wednesday, when more information is expected on the investigation.