The victim family, from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, was kidnapped on October 3
Chandigarh: The sheriff of Merced County in California has said a baby girl and three other Sikh family members who were kidnapped at gunpoint have been found dead, a report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Sheriff Vern Warnke announced on Thursday, October 6, that the bodies were found in a Merced County orchard and told reporters: “Our worst fears have been confirmed.”
The announcement came after authorities released surveillance video of a man kidnapping 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her parents and uncle from their business outlet on Monday, October 1, in Merced in the San Joaquin Valley southeast of San Francisco.
A four-member Sikh family, including an 8-month-old child were originally from Harsi Pind in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. They were kidnapped in Merced County, California, on Monday.
The family was identified as 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her 27-year-old mother Jasleen Kaur, her 36-year-old father Jasdeep Singh, and her 39-year-old uncle Amandeep Singh.
A vehicle owned by one of the family members was found on fire late Monday, which led law enforcement to determine that the four had been kidnapped.
According to a news release, detectives received information on Tuesday, October 2, that one of the victim’s bank cards was used at an ATM in Atwater in Merced County.
Chilling video released by police
Jasdeep and Amandeep Singh came out with their hands zip-tied together, moments later, kidnapper led Jasleen and her baby out of the building into a truck
Sherif Warnke said the bodies of the were found on Wednesday, October 5, in an orchard near Indiana Road & Hutchinson Road.
Warnke said that a farm worker near the orchard found the bodies and immediately contacted authorities. All of the bodies were found close together.
“There are no words to describe the anger I feel,” Warnke said during a press conference.
“There’s a special place in hell for this guy,” he said about Jesus Manuel Salgado, the suspect, who attempted to kill himself.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office released a chilling new video showing the moment the family was kidnapped.
Jasdeep and Amandeep Singh came out of the business with their hands zip-tied together. Moments later, the video shows the kidnapper leading Jasleen and her 8-month-old baby, Aroohi, out of the building into a truck.
Salgado was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon and remains in the hospital in critical condition after he tried to kill himself.
The sheriff’s office said his own family contacted authorities reporting that Salgado had admitted to them he was involved with the kidnapping of the family.
*********************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com