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The Sikh family who were kidnapped from their business in California earlier this week have been found dead in a rural orchard, with police still unable to explain the motive for their senseless murders.
Jasleen Kaur, 27, her husband Jasdeep Singh, 36, their eight-month-old baby daughter Aroohi Dheri and Singh’s brother Amandeep, 39, were all found dead on Wednesday afternoon.
They are believed to have been killed by Jesus Salgado – a 48-year-old criminal who was tracked down earlier this week after trying to use one of their ATM cards.
Salgado remains in the hospital after trying to kill himself as police were closing in on him.
The family’s murders remain unexplained. Just hours before their bodies were found, police released chilling surveillance footage of them being led out of the business in cable ties.
Merced County Sheriff not yet revealed how they were killed.
Officers are waiting for Salgado to regain consciousness before questioning him and charging him over the murders.
Police say that every time he regains consciousness, he becomes violent.
Jasleen Kaur (pictured left), 27, her husband Jasdeep Singh (pictured center) and their eight-month-old daughter Aroohi Dheri (pictured right) have all been found dead
Newly released surveillance footage shows the kidnapper walking by and then the moment a family of four was kidnapped at gunpoint from their trucking business in central California
A map shows key locations in the kidnapping and murder case in Merced County
‘We found the four people from the kidnapping and they are in fact deceased,’ said Warnke. ‘There is no words to describe the anger I feel, and the senselessness of this incident.’ He added, referring to the killer: ‘There’s a special place in hell for this guy, and what we’re going to deal with tonight is bad.’
The news that the bodies had been discovered came just hours after police released harrowing surveillance footage that showed the moment the hard-working Sikh family was kidnapped at gunpoint.
The video released earlier on Wednesday shows the kidnapper first walking up to the family business at the intersection of Dickenson Ferry Road and South Highway 59 in Merced County.
Jesus Salgado, 48, was arrested Tuesday in Merced, California, after he used one of the victim’s ATM cards.
The kidnapper is carrying a trash bag filled with unknown items, which he sets down as he pulls a gun from his waistband.
Later, it shows him leading the male victims, who had their hands zip-tied behind their backs, into the back seat of Amandeep Singh’s pickup truck.
The kidnapper then went back to the trailer that served as the business office and led Jasdeep Singh, who was carrying her baby in her arms, out and into the truck before the suspect then drove away.
Family members said nothing was stolen from the trucking company but that their relatives were all wearing jewelry.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said an ATM card belonging to one of the victims was used in Atwater, a city about 9 miles north of Merced.
Warnke said the kidnapper made no ransom demands in what he believes was a financially motivated crime.
Authorities in Merced County were attempting to speak with the hospitalized suspect, Salgado, to determine whether another person was involved, Sheriff Warnke said.
‘Until we get some kind of conversation going with the suspect, we are not 100 percent,’ Warnke said of Salgado, who attempted to take his own life before being taken into custody.
‘I fully believe that there was one other person involved. We don’t have any evidence to support that. It’s just the circumstances surrounding this.’
Video footage shows the suspect leading the men, who had their hands zip-tied behind their backs, into the back seat of Amandeep Singh’s pickup truck
The men, with their hands tied behind them are then led to the truck
Sukhdep Singh, a relative of the family kidnapped recently, speaks with the media in Merced
Before the heartbreaking discovery of the bodies, relatives of the victims asked anyone who owns a convenience store or gas station in the area to check their surveillance cameras for images of the suspect or the family.
‘Please help us out, come forward, so my family comes home safe,’ Sukhdeep Singh, a brother of the victims, said, his voice breaking.
The four family members were taken from their business in Merced, a city of 86,000 people about 125 miles southeast of San Francisco in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland.
Relatives of Jesus Salgado, 48, contacted authorities reporting that he had admitted to them he was involved with the kidnapping, Warnke told KFSN-TV on Tuesday.
Salgado tried to take his own life before police arrived at a home in Atwater, and he has since been hospitalized, he said.
Warnke said detectives have not been able to speak to Salgado, who has been under medical sedation in the hospital, but they are hoping to do so Wednesday with the help of doctors.
‘I can tell you that every time he has even come near consciousness he has been violent,’ Warnke said.
This video image released by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office shows a person of interest in a surveillance photo of a subject making a bank transaction at an ATM located at a bank
Earlier in the week, police released these images of the suspect- now believed to be Salgado
Salgado was previously convicted of first-degree robbery with the use of a firearm in Merced County, as well as attempted false imprisonment and an attempt to prevent or dissuade a victim or witness.
He was sentenced to 11 years in state prison in that case, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
He was released from prison in 2015 and discharged from parole three years later. He also has a conviction for possession of a controlled substance, the corrections agency said.
Investigators have not found a link between Salgado and the family to show they knew each other before the kidnapping.
‘As of right now, we believe it was random,’ Deputy Alexandra Britton said. ‘We don’t have evidence to prove otherwise.’
Family members told KXTV-TV that the office for Unison Trucking Inc., the family’s business, had only opened about a week earlier.
‘My husband is very peaceful and calm person. We don’t have any clue why they kidnapped them,’ said Jaspreet Caur, wife of the kidnapped uncle.
The sheriff said detectives believe the kidnapper destroyed unspecified evidence in an attempt to cover his tracks.
Officials have not yet revealed a motive for the kidnapping, and the family remains missing
The sheriff’s office said that firefighters on Monday found Amandeep Singh’s truck on fire. Merced Police Department officers went to Amandeep Singh’s home, where a family member tried to reach him and the couple.
When they were not able to reach their family members, they called the Merced County Sheriff’s office to report them missing, the office said.
Merced County Undersheriff Corey Gibson said a farmer found a phone belonging to one of the victims on a street in Dos Palos, a town 30 miles southwest of Merced, and answered it when the family called it.
Warnke said that while detectives have not established any motive or determined whether Salgado worked with any accomplices, he believes the suspect was driven by money and colluded with someone else.
‘I fully believe that there was at least one other person involved,’ the sheriff said, noting that he does not have any evidence to back that up.
He added: ‘My speculation is that it’s financial.’
The sheriff’s office said the FBI, the California Department of Justice, and other local law enforcement agencies are helping with the investigation.
A former victim of suspect Salgado’s spoke to local news outlet KSEE24, giving detail on his past robbery. The man, who owned a central valley trucking company, said Salgado had worked for him for two years.
The man – who was not identified by the news outlet – fired Salgado, who in December 2005 turned up at his home wearing a ski mask.
‘I went to shut the front door when he pulled out a gun and held it to the back of my head,’ the man said. Salgado then duct taped the man’s hands together, as well as his wife, his 16-year-old daughter and his daughter’s friends. He then proceeded to steal ‘all the money we had, rings, that kind of stuff,’ the man said.
The man said Salgado even took the ring off his wife’s finger, before making the family jump into the pool – telling them he would kill them if they called the police.
Despite the threat, the man said his family did call the police – and Salgado was arrested the next morning, court records seen by KSEE24 show. He was jailed for 11 years in 2007. He spent eight years in prison and a further three on probation.
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