Vallejo Kidnapping Victim Still Missing Despite Arrest Of 4 Suspects
VALLEJO (CBS/AP) -- Police in Vallejo are investigating the kidnapping for ransom of a woman who remains missing even though four suspects have been arrested in the case.
Elvira Babb, 57, was last seen June 29 by a co-worker who dropped her off at a market in Vallejo, Lt. Jeff Bassett said.
Her son, John Babb of San Francisco, received a text message the next day demanding money, described under six figures, and threatening his mother's life if he did not comply or contacted to police. Babb replied, but he didn't get a response, Bassett said.
Babb went to his mother's home after receiving the text and found her Chihuahua dog dead. On July 1, Babb reported his mother's kidnapping to Vallejo police.
A weeklong investigation, which includes the FBI, the Sacramento and Fairfield police departments, Solano County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Marshals Service, led authorities to Emmanuel Espinoza, 26, of Stockton, who was arrested in the Sacramento area and is considered the primary suspect, Bassett said.
Espinoza was an acquaintance of Elvira, though the extent of their relationship was unknown, police said.
Authorities also arrested Jalon Brown, 32, and Larry Young, 23, of Sacramento and Lovely Rauzol, 27, of Vallejo.
"None of the suspects are divulging her location, and we're hoping that someone will come forward that will be able to help us locate her," Bassett said.
Investigators have no leads as to where Babb may be or whether she is alive.
"We definitely have the primary suspects," he said. "If there are others, the suspects aren't cooperating with us."
The department waited until Saturday to release the information "for the safety of the victim," he said.
Neighbors in the area told KPIX 5 they aren't used to this kind of crime.
"I'm very sad about it. It's very difficult for the people who live here in Vallejo that there was a kidnapping here," Roberto Macabagani of Vallejo said.
The Vallejo Police Department came under fire last year after describing the kidnapping of Denise Huskins from her Vallejo home as a hoax. Federal prosecutors later charged disbarred Harvard-educated lawyer Matthew Muller with Huskins' kidnapping.
In a lawsuit filed against the city in March, Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, accused Vallejo police of defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
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