WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Aug. 14, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — West Valley City police have identified the three suspects taken into custody following the apparent kidnapping of a 17-year-old boy who was recovered Monday night from a South Salt Lake motel.
Taken into custody were Issa Jassim Al Sadoon, 26; Nadia Carolina Avalos, 32; and Juan Carlos Moreno Trinidad, 41.
All three suspects were booked early Tuesday morning into the Salt Lake County Jail on charges of:
- Kidnapping, aggravated for Al Sadoon and Trinidad, of a child for Alvos, all first-degree felonies
- Theft by extortion, a third-degree felony
In addition, Trinidad was charged with:
- Possession or use of a dangerous weapon by a Class 1 restricted person, a third-degree felony
Probable cause statements for the three were identical:
“A/P (accused person) along with at least two other suspects unlawfully and forcefully took a juvenile male into their custody and demanded a cash ransom for the victim’s return, all while indicating (through victim’s phone calls) that they would kill or do bodily harm to the victim if their demands were not met,” the statements say.
“During the investigation, the location of the victim and captors was found by law enforcement. Law enforcement officers were able to safely and quickly take all three captors into custody while rescuing the victim. One of the captors in the hotel room was the A/P, who was arrested on the scene.”
A search warrant was obtained for the room, the statements say.
“A loaded firearm, several phones and a small amount of crystal-like substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine were located in the hotel room where the A/P was staying.
“The suspects and victim were interviewed. Suspects admitted to kidnapping the victim for money. The victim gave information that suspects were in possession of a handgun and pointed it at the victim when he was taken at gunpoint, and the victim believed if he did not go along with them, his mother would likely be hurt. The victim gave information that he was told to make phone calls to his mother for the ransom demands.”
West Valley City Police Deputy Chief Robert Hamilton told Gephardt Daily late Monday night that Utah County Major Crimes detectives were working on an unrelated investigation earlier in the day when they developed information that the teen had been kidnapped out of West Valley City.
It was believed the teen had been kidnapped in connection with a drug crime, Hamilton said.
“They reached out to us, notified us,” he said. “West Valley City detectives in conjunction with the Salt Lake City FBI field office and Utah County Major Crimes worked throughout the day.”
Hamilton said the officers had a lot of technical help available, “but really, it came down to good, old-fashioned detective work.”
They checked surveillance video from the area in which the teen had been taken and spoke with possible witnesses, getting vehicle descriptions and other information.
The leads they had brought officers to a Motel 6 at 300 W. 3300 South, where they set up surveillance. When one of the suspects left the motel, officers were able to pull him over in a traffic stop and take him into custody.
But that still left police with a hostage situation to resolve. The first step was to evacuate the area for everyone’s safety.
“As soon as we made contact with the suspects in this case, they surrendered and the hostage came out unharmed,” Hamilton said.
The teen was reunited with his mother. Police do not think the incident was gang-related.
“Right now, we believe he was kidnapped in relation to that drug nexus,” Hamilton said on Monday. “He was a family member of someone who was involved.”
There was a ransom demand, he said, but police don’t think the family paid anything.
