Three arrested in Rosarito Beach killing, kidnapping

By Sandra Dibble, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 15, 2010 at 6:23 p.m.

TIJUANA — The kidnapping of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen last month in Rosarito Beach and the killing of her Mexican boyfriend has led to the arrest of three friends of the victims, state authorities said Thursday.

The woman’s family owns a small business in Rosarito Beach and is civically active in the community.

Jose Leonardo Vela Robles, 25, was killed March 30, the same day he was kidnappped with his girlfriend, said Fermin Gomez, Baja California’s deputy attorney general for organized crime.

The woman, who is seven months pregnant, was held for three days and left for dead in a Rosarito Beach neighborhood on April 3 after her abductors tried repeatedly to slit her throat, Gomez said. The abductors had demanded $300,000 from her family to release her, but were never paid, Gomez said.

Gomez said that two of the suspected assailants had gone to the victims’ residence and asked for a ride to Tijuana. Once there, the couple was separated.

An investigation by Baja California’s anti-kidnapping squad led agents to detain Baltazar Ochoa Pineda, 29, a U.S. citizen who allegedly confessed to Vela’s slaying. Ochoa told investigators that he killed Vela because Vela had failed to pay back a $400 drug debt.

The other two suspects were identified as Brittany Louise Eisher, 22, a U.S. citizen, and Luz Rosenda Palma Aguilar, 28, of Veracruz. Two other suspects are at large.

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