Kidnapped California Baby Found, 3 Suspects Detained

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 3-month-old baby who was kidnapped from his San Francisco Bay Area home was found Tuesday and three suspects were detained, police said.

The baby, Brandon Cuellar, was taken to a hospital as a precaution, the San Jose Police Department announced on Twitter, without saying where the boy was located.

The announcement came shortly after police told reporters that a woman had been detained as “a person of interest” in the case after what authorities called inconsistencies in her statements to police about the kidnapping. Authorities then said that three suspects overall were detained but did not disclose whether the woman was among the suspects.

The child was taken Monday from his apartment in San Jose by a man, who entered the home and was seen on video walking away with the baby in a carrier.

The woman taken into custody, who has not been identified, was with the child’s grandmother before little Brandon Cuellar was abducted Monday by an unknown man, San Jose Police spokesman Sgt. Christian Camarillo told reporters Tuesday.

“This was a person who was with the grandmother yesterday when they went shopping, she was present at the apartment complex when this happened,” he said. “There have been some inconsistencies with what she has told us. Obviously, drawing our attention to what she knows about this.”

Police released a video showing the man walking down the sidewalk holding the baby carrier covered by a white blanket.

“The family does not recognize this suspect,” police initially tweeted.

Camarillo told reporters Monday that the kidnapping was reported by the baby’s grandmother.

“According to the grandmother, she came home to this apartment…. She took the baby in the apartment, went downstairs to unload some groceries,” Camarillo said. “In that short amount of time someone entered the apartment … and left with the baby.”

Brandon was last seen wearing a white long-sleeved onesie with dinosaurs.
Camarillo said the baby’s mother was at work when the abduction happened.

“Dad right now is out of the picture. He is incarcerated. I don’t know, you know, whether that is going to play into this, but obviously we are going to talk to him soon,” Camarillo said.

He said it was hard to make out the man who took the baby because he was wearing a mask.