Brandon Cuellar and his alleged abductor.
Update – 2:18 p.m.: Police announced Tuesday afternoon that they found 3-month-old Brandon Cuellar, and that they have three suspects in custody.
The child is being taken to a local hospital for an evaluation, cops said.
Our original article is below.
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A man walked off with a 3-month-old baby boy while the child’s grandmother was unloading groceries, according to officers in San Jose, California. Now state and federal investigators are looking for young Brandon Cuellar.
Video shows the suspect walking down a sidewalk holding a black baby carrier with a white blanket, officers said.
5/ Video footage: pic.twitter.com/GwiekpPYZj
— San José Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) April 26, 2022
The suspect had entered the residence on the 1000 block of Elm Street on Monday and took Cuellar, police said.
“The family does not recognize this suspect,” officers said.
Officers described the suspect as a Hispanic male with a dark complexion. He wore black pants, a dark blue shirt, and grey shoes with white trim. He had short hair under a gray baseball hat, and he wore a black face mask, police said.
Cuellar was wearing a dinosaur onesie during the abduction, police said.
“He was wearing a white long sleeve onesie with dinosaurs on it,” they said.
Police said they do not have vehicle information yet to an AMBER Alert.
Officers have asked that anyone who has seen the suspect or baby call 911 (assuming you’re local). They also set up five hotline numbers:
- 408-537-1142
- 408-537-1916
- 408-537-1282
- 408-537-1522
- 408-537-9066
Officers are standing by to answer calls, authorities said.
“Those numbers are for incoming tips,” they said. “Cash reward for info that leads to us finding this baby. You can be anonymous.”
“At this time Officers and agents with the FBI are going door to door in the area of Elm St and surrounding streets in an effort to locate witnesses or any other info related to this case,” police wrote overnight, later saying, “Our agency will provide the most accurate timely information. We are actively working leads. We know there is a need for information, but we also need to maintain the integrity of this investigation. The number one unwavering goal is to get baby Brandon home.”
San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Camarillo told reporters in a press conference that the grandmother alerted them just after 1 p.m. on Monday. She had been taking care of the baby while the boy’s mom was at work. The grandmother arrived home, took the child into the apartment and went downstairs to unload some groceries, he said.
“In that short amount of time, someone entered the apartment–you guys have the images and the video of this person–and left with the baby,” Camarillo said.
The mother is with police providing information, he said.
“Dad right now is out of the picture,” he said. “He is incarcerated. I don’t know whether or not that is going to play into this, but obviously, we’re going to talk to him soon.”
Cops are calling out to the public for help in finding the boy.
“Today, someone is walking around with a 3-month-old baby that they did not have yesterday,” the police sergeant said.
The FBI is sending members of its Child Abduction Response Team to help, Camarillo said.
“If you have this baby, please give that baby back to its mother,” he said. “We can deal with consequences after. Anybody who is a mother or a father, you don’t love anything more than you love your child. This mother right now is going through a very, very bad time, as well is grandma.”
Police can meet with anyone who wants to give over the baby, he added.
“If you’re afraid, or you don’t want to come to the [police department] with the baby, go to a fire station,” Camarillo said. “Go somewhere with the baby. Leave, tell them to call 911. Right now, the number one thing is we want that baby home.”
Officers had no updates Tuesday morning.
16/ Thank you for monitoring and following this incident. Our detectives and federal partners are out in the field following up on leads. We will keep the updates coming as they become available.
— San José Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) April 26, 2022
[Screenshot via San Jose Police Department]
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
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