Ex-con, 37, is arrested after he 'kidnapped his 18-year-old girlfriend and her parents at gunpoint in Florida, and forced them to withdraw money before fleeing with the teenager' who was found safe 24 hours later in Virginia
An ex-con kidnapped the parents of an 18-year-old girl he was 'in a romantic relationship' with at gunpoint before he forced them to withdraw money from different ATMs in Florida and then took off with the teenager.
Police said ex-con Jaddier T. Sanchez, 37, of West Palm Beach, kidnapped Nicole Martinez, 18, and her parents from outside their home in Pembroke Pines, Florida, just after midnight on Sunday.
After forcing them inside their red Dodge Ram pickup truck, police said Sanchez drove the family to multiple bank in the area so that they could withdraw cash.
Police said Nicole Martinez, 18 , and her parents were kidnapped from outside their home at gunpoint by Jaddier T. Sanchez, 37, just after midnight on Sunday
About five hours later, at 5.30am, Nicole's mother and father were found on the side of a road near Lake Okeechobee, in Belle Glade, Florida, about 63miles away from where they were allegedly taken, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
Police said that Nicole wasn't allowed out of the car and was being kept against her will after her parents were released.
Jaddier T. Sanchez, 37, had been released from prison in May 2020 after serving out 15 years for armed robbery with a deadly weapon
Sanchez was described as being 185lbs and 5-foot 11-inches tall with a prominent neck tattoo reading 'ATM.'
It's unclear whether Martinez's parents suffered any injuries during the incident.
Nearly 24 hours after Sanchez took Nicole at gunpoint in Florida, the two were tracked down in Virginia.
The Virginia State Police notified the Pembroke Pines Police Department that they had found them in Alexandria, Virginia, at about 12.40am Monday - more than 1,000miles away from her home.
Sanchez was safely taken into custody, while Nicole - who had unspecified minor injuries - was taken to the hospital, WPBF reported.
Pembroke Pines Police said they believed that Nicole and Sanchez 'shared a romantic relationship,' but did not elaborate about the relationship or how they'd met, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
Nicole and her parents were allegedly kidnapped outside their home in this Pembroke Pines. er parents were found at 5.30am in Belle Glade. Nicole was found Monday at 12.40am in Virginia
Nicole's parents, Arturo and Yadi Martinez were found by the side of a road in Belle Glade, about at about 5.30am
Police have not named Nicole's parents, but a woman named Yadi Martinez had posted multiple Facebook messages about her missing daughter, Nicole, and expressed relief at her having been found.
'My daughter has been found safe!!!' she wrote Monday. 'We are in the process of going where she is to pick her up. She is safe, I can't thin of anything else but to have my daughter in my arms, and never lettign sic her go... Thank you for all your prayers and love.'
Sanchez had been released from Palm Beach County Jail in May 2020, after serving out a 15-year sentence for armed robbery with a deadly weapon, according to Florida Department of Corrections records obtained by the newspaper.
Prior to that incarceration, between 2003 and 2004, Sanchez had served about nine months for a charge of burglary of an occupied structure and aggravated stalking with a credible threat, the Miami Herald reported.
At some point between his prison stints, Sanchez was convicted of domestic battery and violating a domestic violence restraining order. It's unclear who his victim had been in that case.
Its unclear what charges Sanchez will face, stemming from this latest kidnapping and robbery incident.