Northern California authorities are searching for four family members, including an 8-month-old girl, who were kidnapped for unknown reasons.
Eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri and her parents — 27-year-old mother Jasleen Kaur and 36-year-old father Jasdeep Singh — were taken against their will from a business in Merced County on Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. The baby’s uncle, 39-year-old uncle Amandeep Singh, was also kidnapped, the sheriff said.
8-month-old Aroohi Dheri is pictured in an image posted by Merced County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook. She, along with her parents, Jasdeep Singh and Jasleen Kaur, were taken against their will from a Merced County, Calif. business.
Merced County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook
8-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her mother Jasleen Kaur (27) and her father Jasdeep Singh (36) were taken against their will from a business in the 800 Block of South Highway 59 in Merced County, Calif., are seen in an image posted by Merced County Sheriff’s Office to their Facebook account.
Merced County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook
No motive is known, the sheriff said. Merced County is located between San Francisco and Fresno.
Authorities have released images of the unknown kidnapping suspect.
“It’s imperative that we get some information on this. So far, as I know, no contact has been made, no ransom demands, nothing from the suspects,” the sheriff said.
The sheriff’s office announced on Tuesday that Amandeep Singh’s truck had been found on fire shortly before noon on Monday.
Police went to Amandeep Singh’s home around 12:35 p.m. Monday; while they couldn’t locate him, they did speak to another relative, the sheriff’s office said. When the relative couldn’t reach Jasleen Kaur, Jasdeep Singh or Amandeep Singh, the relative reported them missing, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff’s officials then responded to a business, and “during the primary investigation, detectives determined that the individuals were kidnapped,” the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.
“We’ve got detectives out canvassing, we’ve had aircraft out looking for evidence. People are gonna be working 24 hours on this until we get a break in this,” he said. “We’ve got to bring this family home safely.”
The FBI, California Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies are involved in the search, the sheriff’s office said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Merced County Sheriff’s Office at 209-385-7445.