CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SAN BERNARDINO
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Authorities on Monday identified two men they believe kidnapped 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez from his San Bernardino home along with a woman they describe as a “person of interest” in the case.
The suspects, Liberato Vega, 30, and Israel Ledesma Moreno, 28, may be in Mexico and warrants have been issued for their arrest, said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodie Miller. Both are illegal immigrants who have been deported before.
Vega’s girlfriend, Claudia Acosta-Serrano, 21, is also wanted for questioning, Miller said.
Briant was kidnapped on May 3 after the two men ransacked the home, tied up his family and took him away at gunpoint. He was found in Mexicali, Mexico, last Thursday and reunited with his mother Saturday.
No motive for the kidnapping has been established. Sheriff’s investigators and the FBI said Monday that they had not ruled out a possible narcotics connection but did not elaborate. Neither of Rodriguez’s parents are suspects.
-- David Kelley
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