Kidnapped 10-Year-Old Found Safe, But Not Before Ransom Text Message
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Nicholas Fierros Jr. was barefoot and alone when a woman saw him cross the street near her home. "He looked kind of lost, she said. Confused," her daughter explained to CBS 11 News, asking not to be identified.
When the woman described the 10-year-old boy to her daughters, they remembered an alert about a missing boy wearing an orange shirt and khakis. "Me and my sister had remembered that there was an Instagram post that there was a missing boy, so we told her to call the cops immediately because that could have been him," the daughter said.
Police in Dallas confirmed that they found Nicholas nearby, at around 7:15 p.m. in the 1500 block of Ann Arbor Avenue. Tuesday afternoon Fierros' family confirmed that after the boy was snatched they had received a text message demanding $60,000. The kidnappers also demanded that they have police and an overhead helicopter leave the scene.
In exclusive video captured by CBS 11 News, the boy's older sister can be seen arriving at Children's Advocacy Center, almost breaking into a run as she heads to the door to be reunited with the 10-year-old boy. "Our prayers have been answered and my baby brother finally got released," she later wrote on Facebook.
According to police, the boy had been kidnapped hours earlier from his aunt's home, located about five miles away in the 500 block of Buick Avenue. Three men allegedly forced their way into the home wearing black clothes and masks. Relatives stated that Nicholas, his aunt and her two children were inside.
The family said the suspects initially demanded money in person, and hit the aunt when she told them there was none. The suspects then threatened to take Nicholas, tied him up and left with him, the relatives added. Authorities explained that the two other boys, meanwhile, were hiding and on the phone with 911.
"We saw the cops. We saw my uncle rushing out from his car," recalled Stephanie Rosales, the 10-year-old child's cousin. She was next door in the other half of the duplex with her own two children, but did not hear anything until police arrived. "They were saying, 'Come out with your hands. We've got your house surrounded.'"
Police said that no one is in custody at this time, and no suspects have been identified.
