Suspects In Kidnapping Of Infant South Bay Boy Identified By Police

By Bay City News

SAN JOSE, CA — San Jose police identified three people Wednesday who were arrested in connection with Monday's brazen mid-day kidnapping of an infant boy.

The trio are suspected of abducting 3-month-old Brandon Cuellar from a home in the 1000 block of Elm Street while his grandmother was unloading groceries from her car, according to San Jose police.

Jose Roman Portillo, 28, Yesenia Guadalupe Ramirez, 43, and Baldomeo Sandoval, 37, were booked into Santa Clara County Jail Tuesday and are being held without bail, according to the sheriff's website.

Portillo allegedly entered the home illegally at about 1 p.m. Monday to take the baby and was allegedly caught on video surveillance footage at some point before and after, police said.

Shortly after the child was abducted, San Jose police engaged in a media blitz, sending out images of the victim as well as video of a man holding a baby carrier while walking near the Elm Street home.

Several San Jose police units assisted with the search, which was also joined by special agents from the FBI.

Investigators first became suspicious of Ramirez, who had been driving the child and his grandmother around to run errands, when she allegedly made inconsistent statements just after the kidnapping, police said.

Police didn't specify how they came to initially suspect Portillo and Sandoval, what their alleged roles were or what a potential motive might be.

The child was allegedly found, apparently "healthy and unharmed," at Portillo's San Jose home Tuesday and was returned to his mother after he was examined at a hospital, police said.

Copyright © 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.