“Tonight our worst fears were confirmed.”
That’s how Merced County Sheriff Vernon H. Warnke began the difficult process of informing the public that the four members of a family were found dead after being abducted at gunpoint in Merced County on Monday.
Warnke said the family – Jasleen Kaur, 27, Jasdeep Singh, 36, Amandeep Singh, 39 and Aroohi Dheri, 8 months – had died.
The Associated Press reported that they were found in an orchard, and KTLA’s sister station KSEE reported that the bodies were found near the area where deputies found the victim’s phones.
The Merced County Sheriff’s Office says it received a call from a farmer around 5 p.m. telling them the location of the victims after finding them, adding that the orchard is “very, very far away.”
“There are no words right now to describe the anger I feel and the senselessness of this incident. I said it earlier, there’s a special place in hell for this guy, and I mean it,” Warnke said.
Authorities have identified Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, as the likely perpetrator.
Salgado, a convicted thief, attempted suicide the day after the kidnappings, officials said.
Since then, he has been medically sedated at a local hospital, preventing detectives from speaking to him, Warnke said.
“I can tell you that every time he got close to consciousness he was violent,” Warnke said.