MERCED, Calif. — Authorities in Central California’s Merced County released chilling new video Wednesday showing the moment a family of four, including an 8-month-old, was kidnapped.
All four family members have not been found.
The family was kidnapped Monday at gunpoint from a business in Merced, authorities said.
During a press conference on Wednesday, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance video showing the moments leading up to the abduction.
The video shows two of the family members – 36-year-old Jasdeep Singh and 39-year-old Amandeep Singh – coming out of the business with their hands zip-tied together.
Moments later, the video shows the kidnapper leading Jasleen Kaur and her 8-month-old baby, Aroohi Dheri, out of the building into a truck.
“We continue to ask for the public’s help with any information that may assist us in locating the family’s whereabouts,” the Merced County Sheriff’s Office said.
Jesus Manuel Salgado, the person of interest, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon and remains in the hospital in critical condition after he tried to kill himself.
Authorities say deputies were informed that one of the victim’s ATM cards was used at a bank in Atwater, a city about 9 miles north of Merced.
RELATED: 4 family members kidnapped from Merced business, picture released of suspect
Detectives received information that identified Salgado as a person of interest and that he attempted to take his own life before police arrived, a statement from authorities said, without specifying where he was taken into custody.
The sheriff’s office said his own family contacted authorities reporting that Salgado had admitted to them he was involved with the kidnapping of the family.
The kidnapper took the baby, the child’s mother, father and uncle, said Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke.
Warnke said the kidnapper made no ransom demands or contact of any kind.
“If you guys have any helpful tips or video, please provide it to the sheriff’s department … they’re trying the best with what they can do but, we need the public’s help right now,” said one of the missing family member’s relatives during Wednesday’s press conference. “Please help us so my family can home safe.”
The sheriff’s department on Monday released two still images from the surveillance footage of the possible suspect and asked for the public’s help in identifying the man. He’s seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark shorts and a light blue disposable face mask.
The sheriff said detectives believe the kidnapper destroyed unspecified evidence in an attempt to cover his tracks.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement Tuesday that Amandeep Singh’s vehicle was found on fire Monday around 11:40 a.m. Merced police and family members were unable to contact him or the couple. Shortly after, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office responded to the business and determined they had been kidnapped.
The sheriff’s office said the FBI, the California Department of Justice, and other local law enforcement agencies are helping with the investigation.
Warnke says his investigators still don’t have a motive for the kidnapping, but he says this isn’t the first time that Salgado has held victims against their will.
According to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, there was a similar incident in December 2005. That landed Salgado in prison for charges of home invasion robbery with a gun, witness intimidation and attempted false imprisonment. The victims weren’t hurt. He was released in June 2015.
KFSN-TV and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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