EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – An American who allegedly took his two young children to Mexico without consent and then demanded ransom from the mother is back in Texas to face kidnapping charges.
Mexican authorities on Saturday detained David Tyler Ruiz on an international warrant for parental kidnapping issued by the FBI’s Midland Resident Agency. The charges were upgraded to kidnapping for ransom due to the alleged monetary demands.
Mexico’s National Guard and the Chihuahua State Investigations Agency (AEI) located Ruiz in the town of Villa Matamoros, just south of Parral. They arrested the 40-year-old man and rescued two American boys ages 5 and 9, the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office said.
The three were taken to Juarez on March 8. The children were reunited with their mother and grandmother that same evening inside the FBI El Paso Field Office.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute handed Ruiz over to FBI agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at an unspecified border crossing in El Paso.
“Mid-January of this year, the subject allegedly kidnapped his two minor children and fled to Mexico from Andrews County, outside of Midland/Odessa area,” said John Morales, FBI El Paso special agent in charge. “The FBI El Paso-Midland Resident Agency quickly became involved in the investigation with our partners in Andrews County.”
Morales credited Mexican law enforcement for their help in finding the suspect and the children.
“The partnerships we have with our Mexican law enforcement agencies here in El Paso will continue to further our mission in protecting the citizens of the United States,” Morales said.
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