A Los Angeles man was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint while visiting Mexico, and the suspect sent graphic videos and threatening photos to the man’s family.
Their loved ones were blindfolded, tied to a rectangular concrete trench and had weapons pointed at their heads, according to court documents viewed by Fox News Digital.
The suspects, a Mexican family member, allegedly pistol-whipped the victim and shot him near the head.
Federal prosecutors say the violent confrontation was videotaped and sent to a family in Los Angeles along with a ransom demand of $70,000.
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Three suspects allegedly kidnapped a Los Angeles man in Mexico, sent a video and this image to his family, and demanded a $70,000 ransom. (U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California)
The victim, identified in court documents as “RV,” was allegedly in Playas de Rosarito, a popular surfing spot in Baja California, Mexico, when he was kidnapped by the suspects in 2022. Prosecutors recently revealed details of the plan after the three suspects were arrested this spring.
They were identified as Mario Alex Medina (aka “Shy Boy”), his son Jose Salud Medina (aka “Gordo”), and Mario’s sister, Maria Alejandra Medina.
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Federal prosecutors say RV, who has family in Los Angeles but is a Mexican citizen, was kidnapped on Nov. 5, 2022, by three members of the Medina family.
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Over the next two days, RV’s family received disturbing photos and videos of their imprisoned loved one, including one that showed him blindfolded and tied to a rectangular concrete trench with a gun held to his head.
On Nov. 7, 2022, RV’s family received a video “of the hostage taker beating victim RV with his fists, feet and a hammer,” the criminal complaint states.
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Initially, they demanded a ransom of $70,000. By Nov. 10, 2022, Jose Medina, 31, allegedly threatened to kill the RV if the family did not immediately pay $30,000, according to the indictment.
That same day, the kidnappers crossed the border and arrived in San Ysidro, California, near Tijuana, to collect the ransom.
They met at a McDonald’s, where the RV family paid $30,000.
The kidnappers crossed the border to San Ysidro, California, near Tijuana, to collect the ransom. (Google Maps)
According to the federal complaint, Maria Medina, 50, said she “almost” guaranteed the safety of the RV before retreating to Mexico.
According to court documents, Mexican law enforcement found the victim on Nov. 11, 2022, “bound and alone in a small underground trench.”
The suspects were on the run for about two years before being arrested in March and April.
On April 9, a federal grand jury indicted the two on a charge of foreign communications with intent to extort, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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According to court documents, Maria and Mario have been in US federal custody since March and April, respectively.
Jose is currently being held in a Mexican prison, where, according to court documents, he is suffering from medical complications that make him unable to be extradited from Mexico to the United States.
The alleged 2022 kidnapping took place in the same area where two people, an American and an Australian, who were engaged in August, were killed in a botched carjacking in May.
Jack Carter Lord, who was killed in a carjacking in Mexico, was scheduled to marry Natalie Wierts this summer. (GoFundMe)
Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson (top left) and American Jack Carter-Lord (bottom right) (Reuters)
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Each suspect in the RV kidnapping case is being represented by a different U.S. attorney in the Central District of California.
Fox News Digital reached out to the lawyers for comment and for more information about the timeline of the litigation, but did not immediately receive a response.
