A person of interest in the alleged kidnapping of an infant and three relatives in central California was taken into custody Tuesday, authorities said.
However, the four relatives remain missing.
Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, was apprehended after officials said the missing family’s ATM card was used at a bank in Atwater on Tuesday morning, roughly 3 miles from where the family was kidnapped Monday, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Authorities initially said they identified Salgado using a security photo taken at an ATM, an image that was shared on the sheriff's office Facebook page.
Later in the day, the sheriff's office said it was determined the photo of the person at the ATM was not Salgado, but the missing family's card had been used.
“We are are working with the bank to obtain the correct photo,” officials said.
The statement did not say Salgado was accused of a crime, and county jail records did not indicate that he had been booked.
Salgado tried to die by suicide before he was taken into custody and was in critical condition Tuesday afternoon, the statement said.
The sheriff’s office identified the missing family as 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri; her parents, Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36; and her uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39.
They were reported missing Monday afternoon after Amandeep Singh’s Dodge Ram was found burning in the Central Valley community of Winton, the sheriff’s office said earlier Tuesday.
Authorities determined that the four had been taken from a business on South Highway 59.
"We have no motivation. ... We just know they are gone," Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke has said.
"Investigators continue to follow up on all leads and are working diligently to find the family," the sheriff's office added Tuesday. "We continue to ask for the public’s help with any information that may assist us in locating the family’s whereabouts."
