Highlights
- The police said the family was “taken against their will from a business along the 800 block of South Highway 59” in Merced city, according to California-based ABC10.
- The police said no contact has been made with the family so far, nor has any ransom request come through. They added that detectives are out canvassing for information and aircraft are out searching for the family.
In a shocking case reported from California in US, four members of an Indian-origin family, including an 8-month-old child, were allegedly kidnapped on Monday.
Victims have been identified
As per media reports by local media, the victims have been identified as Jasdeep Singh (36), his wife Jasleen Kaur (27) and their 8-month-old baby Aroohi Dheri along with the baby’s uncle Amandeep Singh (39).
The police said the family was “taken against their will from a business along the 800 block of South Highway 59” in Merced city, according to California-based ABC10.
Cops’ statement
“We have a lowlife out there that kidnapped an 8-month-old baby, her mom, her dad and her uncle. So far… we have no motivation behind it. We just know they are gone,” said Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke in a video on Facebook.
“We have got evidence to indicate the individuals involved in this destroyed evidence in an attempt to cover their tracks,” the sheriff added.
“People are going to be working 24 hours on this until we get a break in this. We’re asking for your help. We need your help, and we’ve got to bring this family back safely,” Warnke said.
Officials have not revealed any name of a suspect as the investigation is still underway. The sheriff’s office released images late Monday of a man with a shaved head wearing a hoodie and a surgical mask believed to be a suspect in the kidnapping.
The police said no contact has been made with the family so far, nor has any ransom request come through. They added that detectives are out canvassing for information and aircraft are out searching for the family.
Past cases of missing people, kidnappings in California
In March 2022, two teenage girls, Mina Khan and Marybel Ruby Gonzalez reunited with their families after being reported missing for four days in the city of San Ramon in California. Authorities said the San Ramon community had been actively searching for Dougherty Valley High School students since the San Ramon Police Department issued a missing-persons bulletin.
An incident of kidnapping was reported in 2019, when an Indian-origin techie, Tushar Atre was found dead in his girlfriend’s car hours after the owner of a digital marketing company in the US was allegedly kidnapped from his posh California home.
