Brother of Merced County kidnapping suspect arrested for conspiracy after 4 family members found dead, sheriff says

MERCED, CA – Merced County authorities have arrested the brother of a suspected kidnapper after four kidnapped family members were found dead in a rural Northern California almond orchard.

Alberto Salgado was taken into custody Thursday night on charges of criminal conspiracy, aiding and abetting and destroying evidence, the county sheriff’s office said.

His brother, Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, was arrested on Tuesday. He was booked into the Merced County Jail Thursday on four counts of murder and four counts of kidnapping, authorities said.

8-month-old Aruhi Deri and her parents — mother Jasleen Kaur, 27, and father Jasdeep Singh, 36 — were taken against their will from the business Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. The child’s uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39, was also kidnapped, the sheriff said.

The sheriff called it “horribly senseless”.

On Tuesday, Jesus Salgado attempted to take his own life “prior to the intervention of law enforcement” and was receiving medical attention, delaying investigators’ ability to speak with him, the sheriff’s office said. Warnke said Wednesday night that he had been spoken to by investigators. The interviews continued on Thursday

Jesus Salgado was arrested in 2005 for robbery, theft and making criminal threats against a man and his family, according to a police report.

On Wednesday, sheriff’s officials released surveillance video showing the family’s movements outside the business, a trucking company, on the day of the abduction.

A GoFundMe account was created to help bring financial assistance to the family and support the upbringing and education of their children. To donate, visit here.