Thread: A Missing California Boy Found in Mexico

A Missing California Boy Found in Mexico

posted by Crystal Gutierrez KDBC 4 News

An amber alert comes to an end in Juarez. Sunday night, Orange County Sheriff's Department out of California told the boy's mother he had been found at the L.D.S. church in Juarez, Mexico.

The 9-year-old California boy had been missing since Wednesday.

O.C. Sheriff's said Ramos and his ex-wife had shared custody of the Ryan. On Wednesday Ramos was supposed to meet up with her and hand Ryan over. Instead Ramos, allegedly shot her in the head and ran off with the boy.

Ramos then fled the state with the boy and is now believed to be in or around Juarez.

Ryan is said to be in the custody of the U.S. consulate.

Ryan's mother has already notified about his finding. She is still recovering at a California hospital.

http://www.kdbc4.com/Global/story.asp?S ... enu608_2_3

There are two places named Juarez in Chihuahua Colonia Juarez and Ciudad Juarez. If the LDS aka Mormons are involved in the story there is a possibility that they are referrng to Colonia Juarez which is tiny but mostly LDS community several hours drive inland.

Alleged Abductor Dies In Crash After OC Boy Found In Mexico

POSTED: 7:03 pm PDT July 6, 2008
UPDATED: 11:33 am PDT July 7, 2008

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- A man who abducted his 9-year-old son after shooting the boy's mother in the face was killed in a traffic collision in Mexico, Orange County sheriff's officials said Monday.

Video | Images

Lonnie Ramos, 46, was killed in a car crash in Juarez, Mexico, Sunday afternoon -- "possibly a couple of hours" after he dropped off his son, Ryan, at a church, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The boy was picked up by authorities and flown back to Orange County on Monday. He was reunited with his mother, 41-year-old Gynnae Ramos, who is at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo recovering from a gunshot wound to the right eye.


Amormino said the details of the traffic collision that killed Lonnie Ramos were still unclear. He said he did not know if Ramos was a pedestrian who was hit by a vehicle or if he was in a vehicle involved in a crash.

According to sheriff's officials, Lonnie Ramos shot his estranged wife Wednesday and kidnapped Ryan, prompting a nationwide AMBER Alert.

The boy's grandfather told authorities about 11 a.m. Sunday that the boy had been dropped off at a church in Mexico, Amormino said.

"The task force received a call from the suspect's father claiming that the suspect left Ryan at the Church of Latter-day Saints in Juarez, Mexico," Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said at a news conference at the hospital on Sunday.

After being found at the church, the boy was taken to the U.S. Embassy in Juarez before being taken across the border to El Paso, Amormino said.

A recreation vehicle Ramos is believed to have rented was found at the Mexican border Saturday, and witnesses said they saw Ramos and the boy walk across the border.

"It's a miracle, I thank God. I know he has angels up there watching over him," Ryan's maternal grandmother, Karen Schiffilea, said Sunday night at the hospital, where family members had gathered.

"We have another chance at life, at a future," Schiffilea said. "My daughter says she can sleep at night -- finally."

In more good news for the family, authorities said the mother's condition has been upgraded from critical to good, although she will need major reconstructive surgery.

The mom had driven to the father's home on Wednesday to pick up their son for a court-ordered custody exchange and had a friend and her daughter in the car when Lonnie Ramos allegedly fired through the windshield, striking her in the face.

A nationwide AMBER Alert was issued, and Saturday, authorities got a tip that an RV Ramos was believed to have rented had been parked near the border crossing at Andrade, a small town in Imperial County near the Mexican border.

"Witnesses stated the suspect and the abducted child were last seen crossing the border into Mexico," Amormino said earlier.

On Thursday, Ramos apparently tried to buy plane tickets at John Wayne Airport but was unable to do so because he refused to produce identification or submit a name.

According to court records, Gynnae Ramos filed for a divorce in May 2003, and has since been in a contentious divorce battle with her husband. She made statements to the court that she had been threatened by Ramos and was afraid he would take out his anger on their son.

Court records filed by Ramos and his attorney indicated Ramos believed his wife was trying to prevent him from having a relationship with his son.

Ramos' roommate, Randy Jick, said it was one of the nastiest custody battles he had ever seen.

On at least two previous custody exchanges, police had been called because of disturbances, the Orange County Register reported.

Gynnae Ramos' father, Tom Schiffilea, said his grandson has been through a lot.

"We can get through, my wife and I, and Gynnae and the rest of the family, you know, but little Ryan's got some -- it's going to be hard for him, you know, what he went through," he said.

http://www.knbc.com/news/16805438/detail.html