Thread: TX: After kidnapping, Austin victims detained, suspect relea

After kidnapping, Austin victims detained, suspect released
Mother, son were held for immigration authorities after woman driving them was stopped, ticketed in Uvalde.
By Chelsea Duttweiler

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Thursday, August 06, 2009

When law enforcement officials pulled over a car in Uvalde County on Tuesday night for a traffic violation, they had no idea they were rescuing an Austin woman and her baby, reported kidnapped hours earlier, Austin police said.

Unfortunately, they also didn't realize they were setting the suspected kidnapper free when they issued her a ticket and turned her passengers over to immigration officials, police said.

It is still unclear which law enforcement agency made the traffic stop in Uvalde County, west of San Antonio, or which immigration agency took custody of Blanca Zacarias, 34, and her 12-day-old son, who Austin police said were reported kidnapped from the 1600 block of Rutland Drive in North Austin about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Austin police spokesman Sgt. Richard Stresing said the suspect in the kidnapping, Margarita Niño, 40, was driving the two in a car toward the Mexican border when she was stopped. He said she was issued a ticket and released.

Zacarias and her son were detained and turned over to immigration authorities because they did not have identification or immigration documents, Stresing said.

He said Austin detectives are still investigating exactly where and when Zacarias and her son were taken into custody.

Stresing said Niño and Zacarias probably knew each other but are not related.

A spokesman with the Uvalde Police Department said the department was not involved, and the Uvalde sheriff's office could not confirm whether one of their deputies made the stop.

Neither U.S. Border Patrol authorities nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials would confirm who took the mother and son into custody, citing the open Austin Police Department investigation.

Stresing said that a local Amber Alert for the boy was issued at 12:35 a.m. Wednesday and that Texas law enforcement agencies were notified.

Immigration officials realized just after 1 a.m. that they had the missing pair in custody and notified Austin police, he said.

The two were taken to the hospital as a precaution and will be returned to their family in Austin, Stresing said; they will not face immigration charges.

Stresing said the time lapse between when the kidnapping was reported and when the Amber Alert was issued is not unusual because police have to investigate whether a child is in immediate danger before requesting an alert.

Niño is described as about 4 feet 9 inches tall and 250 pounds. She has brown hair with light brown highlights and brown eyes.

She was last seen driving a maroon four-door 1999 Nissan Sentra with a gray pinstripe, officials said.

www.statesman.com

The two were taken to the hospital as a precaution and will be returned to their family in Austin, Stresing said; they will not face immigration charges.

Why the hell not?!?!?! Betcha the "kidnappings" will rise into the hundreds of thousands and it will be the preferred method to prevent deportations.