Thread: AZ: Kidnapped man may be in Mexico, cops say

Kidnapped man may be in Mexico, cops say

DAVID L. TEIBEL
Published: 05.01.2007

Sheriff's detectives suspect that a man kidnapped late last month from his far South Side home may have been released by his abductors and be on the lam in Mexico.
Forty-eight illegal immigrants were found on his property after the kidnapping, authorities said.
And, Detective Sgt. Jesus Lopez said, the man's wife was arrested this morning by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, on alien smuggling charges.
Mary Najera, 38, a U.S. citizen, was being held in a federal detention facility, Lopez said. The man is not being named by the Tucson Citizen because he is apparently the victim of a crime. Citizen policy is to not name crime victims without their consent.
Lopez said detectives got a call recently from Mary Najera who told them her husband's mother had called her to say she had heard from her son, that he was on his way to her home in Guadalajara, Mexico and that he was all right, Lopez said.
Lopez said detectives have not been able to confirm that the man has been freed by his abductors and that he is OK.
None of that has been confirmed, Detective Capt. Shawn Cooper said, adding, "We're hoping that's the case, our main priority is to ensure that he is safe."
"We are continuing our investigation at this point as if it were a kidnapping," Cooper said.
Lopez, head of the robbery, assault detail, said detectives have not been able to determine why the man was kidnapped April 26 or why he would have been released.
Cooper said it is possible the man was able to resolve whatever issue lead to his kidnapping and was released.
The man is a legal resident of the United States, originally from Guadalajara. Deputies said shortly after the kidnapping that they suspected the man was involved in immigrant smuggling.
The kidnapping came to light when deputies went to the home to investigate a report that shots were fired near the house and the man's wife saw him being forced by men into a black, Lincoln Navigator.
After hearing the shots near her home and seeing her husband kidnapped, the victim's wife called 911 as she followed the kidnappers, losing them as they headed west on Valencia Road, Barkman said.
Deputies went to her home and found a blood trail leading from near the house to a roadside gate. Deputies have been unable to say if the man was shot or injured in some other way.
The property, on South Epperson Lane, near East Summit Street and south Old Nogales Highway, was surrounded by a fence topped with video surveillance cameras, Barkman said. The house had similar cameras on it, she said.


http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/50215.php

This is a follow-up to last weeks story of the kidnapping revealing the drop house. It amazes me that it took until today to arrest the Wife. They arrested the guys 18 year old son the day of the incident.