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 captive while demanding up to four million dollars from his family, according to information from local news when the federal charges were made public on Wednesday.
The accused are Yansel Hernández, 34 years old, and René Quintana, 31, who are facing federal charges of conspiracy to kidnap 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 revealed.
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 the 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 premises with his receipt in hand, but his Ford Pickup was left abandoned in the parking lot.
The surveillance cameras recorded the arrival of a gray sedan shortly after the victim entered, and showed the same vehicle leaving the scene without her.
A plate reader on Bird Road recorded 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, in which he was able 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 referred to "a 15-year debt", according to the federal criminal complaint cited by Local 10.
Shortly after 8:15 PM, a new text specified the demand: three million dollars, with the warning that the captors "knew the businesses, properties, and family members" of the victim, and the instruction to appear in West Palm Beach within 48 hours.
When the family went to the police, the ransom rose to four million.
The message was direct: "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 he was supposed to use to deliver the money.
How were they discovered?: the pizzeria lead 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 showed three men arriving in a black Honda Accord; while one was buying the phone, the other two visited a nearby pizzeria.
A receipt in the name of "Rene," with an associated phone number, enabled the identification of Quintana.
"They came in normally, like any customer, to order pizza. And we didn't know. They requested 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 from the establishment told Univision.
Cell phone location data placed both suspects near the store at the time of the abduction 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 in the name of 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 it was occupied by two Hispanic men, the vehicle stopped, and the occupants got out; as they established 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 legal documents do not specify the exact location where she was found.
The case raised alarm among the residents of Westchester.
"Super insecure, really, these are things that are hard to believe. It feels 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 announced.
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