SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A 17-year-old boy was rescued in Southern California after enduring a four-day kidnapping and hostage situation. The captors threatened to harm him unless his family paid a $500,000 ransom.
Law enforcement successfully located the teenager and his three kidnappers at a motel in Santa Maria, a city located approximately 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
The terrifying ordeal began on Monday morning when the kidnappers caused a car crash in San Bernardino County, which is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Santa Maria. They abducted the teen when he exited his vehicle to assess the damage. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles stated that the kidnapping was recorded by a doorbell camera.
The kidnapers contacted the teen’s mother using a Mexican phone number and demanded a ransom of $500,000, instructing that it be delivered to Nogales, Mexico. Federal prosecutors reported that the captors repeatedly called the mother over the course of four days, threatening to harm her son if the ransom was not paid.
During the incident, the suspects also forced the teenager to read from a script in a video. This video was sent to the boy’s mother and claimed that the abduction was the father’s fault due to an alleged incident in New York. The script accused the father of theft and suggested that he knew what he had stolen.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said, “Few things can be as terrorizing to a parent as having your child kidnapped and held for ransom under threat of physical harm.”
The three captors, all in their 20s, have been federally charged with kidnapping. If convicted, they could face life imprisonment. Their court appearance is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Law enforcement utilized a Facebook Marketplace posting and footage from the doorbell camera to track both the victim and the suspects to Santa Maria. Authorities also recovered at least one firearm from the motel.
The boy was found lying on the floor in a corner of the motel room. It is important to note that the family did not pay the ransom, according to officials.
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