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Investigators explore lead on abducted Calif. boy
[May 07, 2009] SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities said Wednesday they were pursuing an unspecified lead in the abduction of a 3-year-old boy from his home but wouldn't say whether any arrests were imminent three days after the boy's mother reported that he was snatched by two armed men.
Sheriff's investigators said they have received numerous tips since Maria Rosalina Millan called police on Sunday to say the men had burst into the family's home, tied up Millan and five of her children and stole money and other property.
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About 20 minutes later, the men left with Briant Rodriguez, the youngest child, after ordering Millan and the other children not to call police, officials said. Investigators "have developed some information that they are following up on and will determine if it is significant to the case," sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said in a statement. Beavers and other officials would not elaborate. Milan, sitting on her front porch with two plainclothes detectives, declined to comment on Wednesday. At a news conference Tuesday, she pleaded for her son's safe return. No motive had been established and federal and local investigators were looking at several theories, including that the Spanish-speaking kidnappers were from Mexico and may have had ties to organized crime there. No ransom has been demanded. Border authorities were put on alert and FBI agents were helping in the investigation. The family lives in a modest, single-story home in a lower-income area abutting the city of San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. One of the children was able to loosen himself from his ties and freed the rest of the family, authorities said. Briant is the youngest of Millan's seven children. Her 16-year-old son was not home and an adult child does not live there. The boy's father was at work at the time and the initial investigation pointed to the kidnappers being strangers to the family, authorities said. The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert but had no witness descriptions of the abductors' vehicle that could be posted on highway information signs to help locate the suspects. |
