BajaNomad

FBI honors two Mexican investigators for rescue- 2 women abducted in Rosarito Beach

Woooosh - 1-31-2009 at 09:44 AM

A happy ending for a real estate showing gone bad. Well- if you consider losing all the ransom money and being raped a happy ending- at least she is alive to show baja property another day...

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"This kidnapping case ended when a Mexican investigator dialed the cell phone of a Los Angeles woman.
"We have your mom," he said, as her mother cried in the background.

The call came a year ago yesterday, or 12 days after two San Diego County women were abducted in Rosarito Beach. A kidnapping cell had targeted one of the women because it thought she was a wealthy real estate agent. She sold property on both sides of the border.

The women, who have relatives in Mexico, are safe. Yes- terday, the FBI honored the two Mexican investigators who rescued them and arrested five men accused of the kidnapings.

Agent Keith Slotter, who runs the FBI's San Diego office, presented certificates to the investigators, who work for the anti-kidnapping unit of the Baja California Attorney General's Office.

"They are heroes," Slotter said. "They raided the house, they made the arrests and they returned these women home safely." The ceremony in Slotter's corner office in Mission Village was a first, but he said he hopes there will be others.

FBI agents are constantly working with Mexican law enforcement ofEcials to solve kidnapping cases. Neit1her side will say how many cases remain open, but they acknowledged that some victims are beaten, tortured, raped or killed.

Although the FBI assisted in the Rosarito Beach case, Slotter said the credit belongs to the two Mexican investigators.

They worked the case from beginning to end after a family member contacted them.

The suspects are in a Mexican jail and face multiple charges, but everyone other than the FBI asked to remain anonymous because they fear retaliation.

The real estate agent, who FBI agents said was raped by her abductors, wasn't present yesterday. The other victim, who attended the ceremony, drove the agent to Rosarito Beach so she could show a property to someone who asked to see it. That person turned out to be one of the kidnappers.

The Mexican investigators thanked Slotter and said they were proud that their work had a positive effect on this side of the border.

One of the investigators is 40 and an eight-year veteran; the other is 27 and has three years of police experience.

"One of the biggest obstacles in cases like this is to gain the trust of the family because sometimes victims aren't trusting of Mexican officials," the 40-year-old said in Spanish.

Both men quickly gained the trust of a daughter of one of the victims. She lives in Los Angeles, but she and her husband spent the first five days after her mother disappeared searching in Mexico.

"I thought her car broke down," said the daughter, who returned with her husband to Mexico after their unsuccessful search to drop off ransom mon- ey that they never got back.

They were still in Mexico when the women were rescued. At the time, the daughter was 20 weeks pregnant with twins. She said she nearly lost the babies because of stress.

Yesterday, with her twin daughters in a stroller and her young son and mother by her side, she thanked the investigators.

'You didn't just rescue my mother; you rescued my daughters and my whole family," she said.

Tony Manolatos: (619) 542-4559; tony.manolatos@uniontrib.com

KIDNAPPINGS BY THE NUMBERS Kidnapping cases that San Diego based FBI agents investigated. The victims are U.S. Citizens, most of whom have family or business ties on both sides of the border: 26: Cases in 2007 26: Cases in 2008 2: Cases so far this year SOURCE: FB1

Scary part

Dave - 1-31-2009 at 10:57 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Woooosh
KIDNAPPINGS BY THE NUMBERS Kidnapping cases that San Diego based FBI agents investigated. The victims are U.S. Citizens, most of whom have family or business ties on both sides of the border: 26: Cases in 2007 26: Cases in 2008 2: Cases so far this year SOURCE: FB1


...and these are the reported cases.

Pato - 1-31-2009 at 03:08 PM

In one month last year, the TJ colonia which I was charmed by and lived for years became an a place of a kidnappings, rescues, violent robberies, a massive shootout, and several group murders. I was first on the scene of one horrific slaughter just a few homes away. I'm still traumatized.

Woooosh - 1-31-2009 at 04:43 PM

It is interesting that one year ago- when this kidnapping happened, I got hammered left and right for saying kidnappings were happenning at all in Rosarito. Everyone wanted to blame the media. Some said these things do happen- but only to those people who deserved it by dealing with the narcos.

So now you have innocent rape victims to feel sorry for- good for you. If you had believed in this crime wave a year ago- they might have been found sooner and suffered less. These victims might have used more caution if people would have listened that kidnappings were happening instead of being in denial (presumabley not to hurt the local tourist or real estate business) . The Ostrich heads finally came out of the sand. JMHO

[Edited on 1-31-2009 by Woooosh]

robrt8 - 1-31-2009 at 09:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
Quote:
Originally posted by Woooosh
KIDNAPPINGS BY THE NUMBERS Kidnapping cases that San Diego based FBI agents investigated. The victims are U.S. Citizens, most of whom have family or business ties on both sides of the border: 26: Cases in 2007 26: Cases in 2008 2: Cases so far this year SOURCE: FB1


...and these are the reported cases.


How many were Mexican nationals?

How many people live in the greater TJ area?

I'd be inclined to think a Mexican national with access to FBI resources would be more inclined to report it.