The horrific story of the family of 4 who were kidnapped at gunpoint this week has taken a shocking turn…
On Tuesday 36-year-old Jasdeep Singh, his 27-year-old partner Jasleen Kaur, and the couple’s 8-month-old baby Aroohi Dheri (above, left), as well as Jasdeep’s 39-year-old brother Amandeep Singh (above, middle), all disappeared after a terrifying daytime kidnapping at a business in Merced County, California. On Thursday, sadly the family — including the baby — were all found deceased.
Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke confirmed the bodies of all four family members were discovered at about 5:30 p.m. by a farm worker in Central Valley county. The victims were discovered “relatively close together” by the worker “in an extremely rural farm area”.
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While they weren’t able to save the family, law enforcement have still been quick to act in the case — they came up with a suspect on Tuesday shortly after the family vanished. The 48-year-old man, Jesus Manuel Salgado (above, right), was taken into custody after cops approached him. He had used an ATM card of one of the victims at a bank machine in the nearby city of Atwater, which is how police were able to track him down and name him as a person of interest. According to the Associated Press, Jesus allegedly attempted suicide prior to being detained.
Sheriff Warnke, appalled by the crime, said on Wednesday during a press conference:
“There’s no words right now to describe the anger I feel and the senselessness of this incident. I said it earlier: There’s a special place in hell for this guy. … I’m just livid inside because this was completely, totally senseless. We have a whole family wiped out and for what? We don’t know yet.”
It was reported Salgado was admitted to a local hospital and was in critical condition following his suicide attempt on Tuesday, but as of Thursday night he was apparently healthy enough to start facing justice — he’s now been booked into Merced County Jail and officially charged with four counts of murder and four counts of kidnapping.
And he apparently had help. On Friday the Merced County Sheriff’s Office announced another arrest — Jesus’ brother, Alberto Salgado (below). He was charged with criminal conspiracy, accessory, and destroying evidence for his alleged role in the heinous crime.
Why would these two men do this? A possible motive is coming into focus. On Friday authorities told the AP that Salgado had a history with the deceased family — he worked for them!
A relative told KTVU Jesus drove a truck for the family’s business but was let go. They allege he “harbored anger over that”. That turned into a feud lasting over a year in which, the sheriff told the outlet, things “got pretty nasty” via text messages and emails between the person of interest and the victims. How that escalated to murder of a child? As of now no further details have been released from investigators, but that likely won’t ever make sense.
Sheriff Warnke is determined to see justice. It’s believed the poor victims were killed within an hour of being kidnapped, and the sheriff believes this was always the plan. He told the outlet:
“This, to me, was pure evil.”
Our hearts break for this family’s friends and loved ones. May the victims get the justice they so truly deserve.
[Image via Merced County Sheriff’s Office/YouTube/ABC10]