BROWNSVILLE — Police arrested three people who allegedly kidnapped a woman from the city’s downtown area early Tuesday morning.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the woman had not been found.
Edgar Eduardo Gonzalez, 17, Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez, 43, and Marco Antonio Gonzalez, 41, were charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of engaging in organized criminal activity, police said.
Leslie Quiroga, 20, was in the downtown area at East Washington Street and East 8th Street early Tuesday morning when she was approached by the suspects who were in a gray minivan and a small pickup truck, said Brownsville investigator Martin Sandoval, a spokesman for the police department.
“Through the downtown video surveillance system, it was observed that the suspects start to punch and pull Quiroga into the van. Quiroga manages to fight them off and runs away to hide in an alley. The suspects located Quiroga and continued to assault her. The suspect then placed Quiroga into the minivan and fled the location,” Sandoval said.
The video surveillance system was able to capture the license plates of the vehicle and police responded to the registered owner’s residence, Sandoval said. Both vehicles were at the location, and when questioned by police, the group “admitted to assaulting Quiroga,” authorities said.
According to police, the group said Quiroga owed them money and that they dropped her off somewhere on West 14th Street after they took her. She has not been located.
Quiroga is 4 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Police urge anyone with information on her whereabouts to call (956) 548-7000.
The suspects were arraigned on the charges on Tuesday and issued bonds. Edgar Eduardo Gonzalez received a total of $65,000 in bonds, Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez received $85,000 and Marco Antonio Gonzalez’s bond was set at $95,000.
