The FBI rescued a resident of Miami-Dade who had been kidnapped outside a pool supply store, and arrested two men accused of holding him while demanding up to four million dollars from his family, according to local news following the announcement of federal charges this Wednesday.
The accused are Yansel Hernández, 34 years old, and René Quintana, 31, who face federal charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and are being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami.
So far, the nationality of origin of the two arrested individuals has not been disclosed.
The kidnapping in the Westchester parking lot
Everything began on the morning of September 29, when the victim —identified only by the initials A. Q. in court documents— went to the store Pinch A Penny Pool Patio Spa, located at 11035 Bird Road, in the Westchester area, southwest of Miami-Dade, to purchase a pool cleaner.
He left the store with his receipt in hand, but his Ford Pickup truck was left abandoned in the parking lot.
The surveillance cameras captured the arrival of a gray sedan shortly after the victim entered, and showed that same vehicle leaving the scene without her.
A license plate reader on Bird Road captured a gray Chrysler 200 traveling half a mile west of the store approximately two minutes after the abduction.
The demands: between three to four million dollars
That same night, the victim's son received a call from a blocked number with distorted audio, during which he managed to hear the words "three million," "dad," and "son."
Eight minutes later, a text message in Spanish arrived, confirming that they had the father and referencing "a debt of 15 years", according to the federal criminal complaint cited by Local 10.
Shortly after 8:15 PM, a new message specified the demand: three million dollars, with the warning that the captors "knew the victim's businesses, properties, and family," and the instruction to appear in West Palm Beach within 48 hours.
When the family went to the police, the ransom increased to four million.
The message was clear: "because the son contacted the police, the ransom is now four million dollars, and the father loves him and knows that the money can be obtained."
The kidnappers also showed that they knew the son owned a blue Hyundai, the vehicle in which he was supposed to show up to deliver the money.
How were they discovered?: the pizzeria tip and digital tracking
The investigators traced the phones used for the threats back to the purchase of prepaid phones at a Walmart in Hialeah Gardens, bought in cash at the end of June.
The supermarket cameras captured three men arriving in a black Honda Accord; while one bought a phone, the other two visited a nearby pizzeria.
A receipt in the name of "Rene," with an associated phone number, allowed for the identification of Quintana.
“They came in normally, like any customer, to buy pizza. And we didn’t know. They asked for the receipts from that day, we brought them and gave them to them. And that’s how they were able to arrest him,” an employee of the establishment told Univision.
Cellular location data placed both suspects near the store at the time of the kidnapping and confirmed communications between them in the days leading up to the crime.
The arrests and the rescue
On Friday, October 3, FBI agents monitored Quintana's residence and detected a gray Honda Accord—registered to a person who had left the country before the kidnapping—driving through the neighborhood.
According to the federal criminal complaint, “the agents followed the Honda, confirmed that it was occupied by two Hispanic men, the vehicle stopped and the occupants got out; while establishing a perimeter, the agents observed Hernández and Quintana walking on foot.”
They were arrested at that moment. In Quintana's bag, a SIM card holder and a piece of paper with the phone number used for the ransom call were found.
The next day, the FBI rescued the victim alive.
The court documents do not specify the exact location where it was found.
The case generated alarm among residents of Westchester.
"Super insecure, these are truly unbelievable things. It seems like a movie. Reality surpasses fiction," one of them told Univision.
Under federal law, conspiracy to commit kidnapping carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Hernández and Quintana did not have any hearings scheduled in the federal case at the time the charges were published.
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