CA-Laura Martinez - Ontario

[fourboys]

Amber Alert issued for Ontario girl

Wednesday, September 7, 2005
By SABRINA BRUMMOND / PE.com

Police have issued an Amber Alert for a missing 14-year-old Ontario girl allegedly abducted by her uncle, authorities said.

The parents of Laura Martinez called Ontario police after the girl did not come home from school. Police say she was not in classes at Ontario High School today. Laura's parents told authorities they received a phone call from the suspect, Elias Flores Martinez, 28, letting them know he had Laura. The family, whose name is not available, told police they heard her voice by telephone.

"The suspect is considered armed and dangerous," said Officer Craig Ansman. "He has a prior history of violent crimes."
The suspect has a 1992 black Nissan Sentra with the license plate number 2XNL159. He is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

He is the brother of the victim's mother, said Detective Gary Naranjo.
Laura is 5 feet, 2 inches tall, 120 pounds, with long brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a white blouse with the word "Princess" written on the front and blue jeans.

Police issued the Amber Alert around 8 p.m. Tuesday. Ansman said an all-points report was issued. The FBI and the Border Patrol have been notified.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ontario Police Department at (909) 395-2001.

Photos at link:

http://www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/stories/PE_UPDATE_2005_0907_amberalert.34920555.html

No registration:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=3421598

[fourboys]

Kidnap sparks nationwide search
Suspect has history as sexual offender

Ontario, CA, 9/8/2005
By Melissa Pinion-Whitt and Rod Leveque
Staff Writers

ONTARIO - Police launched a nationwide manhunt Wednesday for a missing Ontario High School girl and the sex offender suspected of kidnapping her.

Authorities said they fear for the safety of 14-year-old Laura Martinez, who disappeared before she made it to school Tuesday. They believe she was taken by 28-year-old Elias Flores Martinez, a convict who previously tried to snatch young girls in Ontario and Mexico.

A motive for the abduction remained unknown Wednesday, but police were beginning to suspect the man may have befriended the girl and convinced her to leave with him.

"This is very typical of sexual predators," said Ontario police Detective Diane Galindo.

Laura Martinez, who is the suspect's second cousin, was last seen Tuesday morning when her mother dropped her off at Ontario High.

The 10th-grader never made it to class and didn't come home. Her mother got a call from the man that afternoon saying he had the teen. He put her on the phone to prove it, police said.

Police issued an Amber Alert on Tuesday night and sent information and photos to the Border Patrol. A $500,000 arrest warrant for kidnapping was issued for Elias Martinez.

Investigators are especially concerned for the girl's safety because of Elias Martinez's criminal history.

Court records show he has been required to register as a sex offender since October 2000, when he was convicted of sexual battery in San Bernardino County.

The conviction stemmed from an incident in which Martinez and another man tried to abduct two girls, ages 15 and 17, from an Ontario street, according to police reports and court records.

As in the current case, both girls knew him.

The older girl told police Martinez groped her and tore her shirt when he tried to drag her into his car. She said he told his friend to grab the younger girl and throw her into the car so he could have sex with her, according to the reports.

The girls escaped after a 12-year-old boy saw what was happening and called police.

Martinez was initially charged in that case with two counts of assault with intent to rape. The charges were reduced to a single count of sexual battery as part of a plea bargain in which Martinez was ordered to spend three months in jail and three years on probation.

A judge also ordered him to leave the country, stay away from underage girls and register as a sex offender.

His name does not appear in the state's sex offender database, indicating he never registered.

It appears, however, he did leave the country.

Only a few months ago, Martinez tried to abduct a 17-year-old relative in Guerrero, Mexico, Laura's parents told police.

Police said the man then fled from Mexican authorities back to the United States.

The family lost contact with Martinez after that incident but recently saw him in Ontario.

Ontario High Principal Rod Hust said school security and police remained on the lookout in case the man returned to the school. Some of the girl's classmates didn't seem surprised by the girl's disappearance, Hust said.

"Some of the kids seemed to indicate that she was going to run away with this guy," he said.

Police are investigating the possibility.

"Officers are trying to interview all the friends to see if there is any validity to their statements," Galindo said.

Laura is 5-feet-2 inches tall, 120 pounds and has long black hair. She was last seen wearing a white blouse with the word Princess on the front. She was also wearing blue jeans.

The suspect is 5-feet-5 inches tall, 160 pounds with black hair and a thin mustache.

Martinez was in a 1992 two-door black or dark gray Nissan with tinted windows and license plate number 2XNL159.

Detectives spent Wednesday interviewing family and friends of the girl. The emotional toll, meanwhile, has already worn heavily on the girl's family.

Laura's mother, Maria Martinez, collapsed in a bathroom at the Ontario police station and was taken away by ambulance.

"She started feeling weak and said she wasn't feeling well," Galindo said. "As a safety precaution, we decided to call the paramedics."

Ontario paramedics wheeled the woman out of the station about 2 p.m. as her husband, Clemente, followed.

Anyone with information on the girl's disappearance may call Ontario police Detective Byron Lee at (909) 395-2001.

http://www2.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3009355

[mysteriew]

Authorities say the kidnapping suspect is a family acquaintance

Police on Wednesday found the car used in the alleged abduction of a 14-year-old Ontario girl, but the girl and the man suspected of taking her remained missing, authorities said.

Investigators believe the girl has been abused by her suspected abductor, family acquaintance Elias Flores Martinez, 28, Ontario Police spokesman David McBride said.

Martinez telephoned the girl's family Wednesday, telling them she was with him. Her family heard her voice in the background, police said. Police said he abducted the teenager Tuesday and that he may have taken her to Mexico.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-abduct9sep09,1,7367644.story?coll=la-headlines-california

[fran]

I just heard on our local ABC station that Laura Martinez has been found and recovered. Sorry, no links. However, the suspect is still at large.

JMHO
fran

[Alice253]

Fran, I found this link:
http://www2.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3027082

"A teen girl who was kidnapped from Ontario High School a week ago was found Tuesday evening at an airport in Mexico. Laura Martinez, 14, called an Ontario police investigator about 4:30 p.m. and said she was with her suspected captor, Elias Flores Martinez. The girl used a pay phone when Elias Martinez went to use a restroom, said Ontario police Detective David McBride."

"Detectives called the Mexican Federal Investigations Agency who found her at the airport in Morelia, Michoacan, but did not find the suspected kidnapper."

More at link....

[fran]

Thanks for the link, Alice.

I'm so glad she was found.

fran

[fourboys]

Thank you both for the updates. Excellent news.

fourboys