PICTURED: Two San Antonio men accused of kidnapping couple at gunpoint from their home in front of their five children ‘in a targeted attack’ – with suspect still on the run
- Two men have been arrested after police say they kidnapped a couple at gunpoint from their family home in front of their five children.
- Felipe Patricio Valdez and Xhavier Zeke Martinez are charged with aggravated kidnapping
- Police said the incident was targeted and are still searching for a third suspect.
Two San Antonio men have been arrested for “kidnapping a couple at gunpoint in front of their five children” – with a third, unidentified suspect still at large.
Felipe Patricio Valdez, 40, and Xhavier Zeke Martinez, 29, were escorted from San Antonio police headquarters, handcuffed and placed in the back of police cars Thursday after it appeared the couple missing had been found safe and sound.
Valdez was charged with aggravated kidnapping and his bond was set at $250,000. Martinez, who has prior arrest warrants for deadly conduct with a firearm, evading arrest and interfering with public duties, faced the same charges but received a higher bond of $256,000.
Samantha Esquivel-Zuniga, 38, and Ricky Zuniga, 37, were allegedly forced to leave their family home in the 3100 block of Mission Bell early Wednesday morning.
Police said the kidnapping was targeted but do not yet know if the couple knew the intruders.
The photos of Felipe Patricio Valdez, 40 (left), and Xhavier Zeke Martinez, 29 (right) were released by San Antonio police.
Valdez (left) and Martinez (right) were photographed in handcuffs as police escorted them into custody.
The San Antonio couple was kidnapped in front of their five children. Pictured: Samantha Esquivel-Zuniga and Ricky Zuniga
Police were called to a house in the 3100 block of Mission Bell around 6 a.m. Wednesday and the children said the suspects fled in a white SUV.
Cops said Valdez and Zuniga broke down the front door of the family’s home and dragged the couple outside as their five children looked on.
The only clue police had in their search for the missing couple was a white SUV they were seen getting into.
Sergeant Washington Moscoso told reporters Thursday that detectives worked “all night” to find the couple “whose family had been separated in such a violent manner.”
He added: “The detectives, during the course of their investigation, quickly realized that this was a targeted kidnapping, that it was not a random act, that it was not just these individuals who had chosen a house and kidnapped the individuals.”
The two men were found safe at a location off Culebra Road near West Commerce Street on the West Side early Thursday morning.
A SWAT team reportedly descended on the home and the suspects were arrested “without incident.” Investigators are now searching the property.
Police have not named the third suspect wanted in connection with the kidnapping.
A neighbor of the suspects said NEWS4SA: “It’s a bit shocking to be honest because I didn’t think these people would do something like that.”
A San Antonio police spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com that the parents were back with their children.
DailyMail.com has confirmed that missing people Samantha Esquivel-Zuniga, 38, and Ricky Zuniga, 37, have been reunited with their five children safely.
Suspects Martinez and Valdez broke down the door of the family’s home and dragged the couple in front of their children, according to a police spokesperson.
A friend of the couple who posted on Facebook pleading for people to be on guard shared his reaction to the news of their discovery.
John Garcia Jr. said: “THANK GOD!! Ricky and Samantha Esquivel-Zuniga are safe and sound! »
Garcia Jr. also let his friends know that the couple had “no serious injuries” and had been taken downtown for questioning.
The couple’s friends were shocked by the incident, although police said the attack was targeted and planned.
Friends said on Facebook they were “at a loss for words” and shared prayers for the couple online.
