Three individuals from Raleigh, North Carolina faced a judge today, accused of the kidnapping of a mother and her young child; the dramatic case has sent ripples through the Garner community. Eleodoro Estrada-Hernandez, along with siblings Paola Duran Duran and Miguel Duran Duran, were charged with kidnapping and aiding and abetting, following the unsealing of federal criminal complaints, the U.S. Attorney's Office disclosed.
According to the complaints, on April 28, in the cover of evening, Estrada-Hernandez and Miguel, both masked—one brandishing a semi-automatic handgun—alleged overpowered the father in his own home, immobilizing him with tape, meanwhile the pair, accompanied by Paola, seized the mother and her 13-month-old child, spiriting them away in a car; this account of events has been pieced together from official documents. Unsatisfied with mere force, the intruders demanded a $1 million ransom, leaving behind a husband bound and silenced, who once the kidnappers departed, somehow managed to escape his binds and alert the authorities, guiding the hunt with a car description he believed the perpetrators used.
The deployment of an Amber Alert turned the tide in this terrifying siege as, the mother and child, dropped off miles away on a rural road, were able to reach out for help and safely returned home. In the wake of the crime's aftermath, the FBI apprehended Paola and Miguel on the following day and held them on state charges before also nabbing Estrada-Hernandez last Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office's statements. Additional information from the court proceedings revealed that all three defendants are believed to be in the United States illegally.
In response to the incident Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar praised the swift action of law enforcement, emphasizing "the close partnership between all of the agencies involved" in a statement obtained by justice department; and Robert M. DeWitt, the FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina, highlighted how the agency pooled resources "from across the state in the middle of the night," ensuring the victims' quick and safe recovery through collaborative efforts and the latest in "investigative technology, tactics, and tools." If convicted, Estrada-Hernandez, Paola Duran Duran, and Miguel Duran Duran could face life imprisonment for the federal charges of Kidnapping and Aiding and Abetting, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
This alarming development was announced by Bubar, while the investigation remains a cooperative effort from the FBI Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Garner Police Department, NC State Bureau of Investigation, and the Wake County Sheriff’s Office; Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Avera is prosecuting the case. The trio is set for a federal detention hearing next Monday, as they currently await their fate behind bars.
