One man charged for the kidnapping of a 2 year old

One man has been charged for the kidnapping of a two year old from Santa Rita Heights, Corozal for whom the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of close to a million dollars. Thirty-two year old Thomas Villanueva, from a South End Street address in Corozal Town, was formally charged today and taken to the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court where he was arraigned for one count of kidnapping. Villanueva is accused of abducting baby Ivy Yang sometime after seven on Sunday night. The toddler was travelling with her mother, Mei Tang Chen, to their house after the day’s work when was boxed in by two vehicles on the ITVET Road. Masked men seized her baby but handed her a phone and by eleven p.m. Chen was contacted. The kidnappers wanted a ransom of four hundred and fifty thousand U.S. dollars for the safe return of baby Ivy. Police were brought in to investigate and several patrols and units were dispatched to avoid causality in the high profile investigation. But by the following night, baby Ivy was safely reunited with her family after Villanueva’s cousin handed her over to Corozal Police. An exclusive interview with the relative on Wednesday revealed that the baby was taken by Villanueva and another person to Fire Burn Village in southern Orange Walk. Villanueva claimed that the baby was his daughter but his cousin, who became suspicious of his actions, took the baby to the police who also learned that the culprits were staying at a house at South End Corozal.   Here’s what she told Duane Moody on Wednesday.

Voice of: Fire Burn Villager, Returned Baby Ivy to Police (File: March 27^th, 2013)

“He is my mother’s nephew.”

Duane Moody

“Did you suspect that there was anything suspicious because this baby was Chinese descent and he had this baby with him?”

Voice of: Fire Burn Villager

“No we didn’t suspect anything because he said he had this baby with a Chinese lady. Then we said, he is our family so we didn’t suspect anything. He was whole morning with my mom and then at the night, he went to my brother in law for taxi and my husband and myself took him to Corozal. When we reached Corozal, he took us to a house and there he got out of the pickup with the baby and a lady and he says right now I will pay you for your service. We were waiting for ten minutes and after that, next man come outside from the house with a baby and he says take me to sea side and there he will pay us the money. He asked where is the sea side and I told him I don’t know. And so he told me go to the right and let’s see if we can find the main street and when we see it, it was just a block from Maya Hotel. And then after Maya Hotel, we went to the sea side and there was some coconut trees and he ordered my husband to go to the back of a tree, but I didn’t let my husband go back of the tree because it was very dark and I was frightened because I don’t know what that man was to do to us. Or kill us. I told my husband to step the vehicle and the man opened the door from the pickup and he left the baby there and I was shouting and my husband too told him not to left the baby there. The only place I know here at Corozal is my aunt house, I don’t know where is the police station and we just gone to my auntie house and the baby was crying. I have the baby because the man pushed the baby on me. When I reached my aunt’s house, if can go with us to the police station. She sent a next person with us to show us the police station.”

Duane Moody

“Where was the man when you guys went to the police station?”

Voice of: Fire Burn Villager

“The man that took us to the sea side, as soon as we reached my aunt’s house, he just opened the door and walked away. We don’t know where he gone.”

But Thomas didn’t work alone and several other persons including fifty-year old Feliciano Villanueva of Corozal, twenty-four year old Angelica Noh, and twenty-seven year old Freddy Gongora; both of Fire Burn Village, Orange Walk District were detained, but for now have been released.