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A California teenager was rescued four days after he was kidnapped and held for ransom. A group of men kidnapped the teen last week by causing a car accident in San Bernardino County.
When the teen got out to inspect the damage, he was grabbed by three men. The kidnappers then called the teen's mother from a Mexican phone and demanded a ransom of $500,000.
The kidnappers also recorded a video of the teen reading from a script in which he said that his kidnapping was his father's fault. He said it was the result of an incident in which his father allegedly stole something in New York.
The teen's mother did not pay the ransom, and the kidnappers continued to call her and threaten her son every day.
On Friday (September 22), authorities managed to locate the kidnappers and found them at a Motel 6 in Santa Maria, which is about 200 miles from where the teen was abducted.
Investigators managed to locate the kidnappers using doorbell camera footage that recorded the abduction and a listing on Facebook Marketplace. Officials said the kidnappers tried to sell the vehicle used in the kidnapping and included their cell phone in the listing. Investigators were able to track the cellphone to the Motel 6, where the teen was being held.
The alleged kidnappers were identified as Fidel Jesús Patino Jaimes, 22, Jair Tomás Ramos Domínguez, 26, and Ezequiel Felix López, 27. If convicted, they face life in prison.