Albany Democrat-Herald
ALBANY, Oregon -- Albany police have arrested five people related to an abduction last month that investigators now say was a “kidnapping for money.”
On the evening of April 7, an Albany woman was taken from her home while her family was tied up and left behind. The kidnappers threatened to kill the woman if police were notified.
Police said the accused kidnappers had received information that the woman, Leticia Villa-Perez, had money and was a good target.
The woman turned up, unharmed, almost 24 hours later in Dallas, Polk County, where someone had dropped her off. Both law enforcement and the woman’s family picked her up.
One man was arrested that day, but the charges were later dropped.
Police said this morning that the woman was kidnapped for money. There was a ransom demand and “there was some level of money that was exchanged,” said Capt. Eric Carter, a spokesman for the Albany Police Department.
He said that he is not aware of any similar kidnappings ever happening in Albany.
The four suspects from Monmouth were arrested Saturday morning in Salem after they were found inside a stolen car. They are Ausli Vazquez-Perez, 18; Arnulfo Lopez-Perez, 28; Gilberto Vazquez-Perez, 26; and Dayver Vazquez-Perez, 23.
The jail said today all four had immigration holds on them, suggesting they are illegal immigrants. They were each charged with robbery, kidnapping, burglary, and conspiracy to commit those offenses, and unlawful use of weapon. They were brought to the Linn County Jail.
The fifth suspect, Ignacio Mendoza-Baltazar, 42, of Salem, faces conspiracy charges and was lodged in the Marion County jail.
The kidnapping happened at the victim’s home in the 700 block of 24th Avenue S.E.
Posted by tyne at May 6, 2008