WASHINGTON: Four members of an India-origin California family, including an 8-month-old girl, were found dead in a rural area on Wednesday after they were abducted in the city of Merced on Monday, authorities said.
The victims were identified as the baby, Aroohi Dheri, who was abducted along with her mother, Jasleen Kaur, 27, her father, Jasdeep Singh, 36, and the baby’s uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39.
Police say the four were abducted on Monday morning from the family’s trucking company in Merced, about 150 miles (240 km) east of San Jose.
“Tonight our worst fears have been confirmed. We found the four people from the kidnapping and they are in fact deceased,” Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke said in a media briefing.
Describing the incident as “horribly senseless”, Warnke said that the motivation for the crime was not known yet, adding that they were alerted by a farm worker.
Authorities in Merced County said Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, was a suspect in the family’s deaths and was in custody.
They were attempting to speak with Salgado, who was hospitalized after trying to kill himself before being taken into custody, to determine whether another person was involved, Warnke had said during a news conference on Wednesday morning. –Agencies
