3 Family Members Indicted in Cross-Border Kidnapping Scheme

When a man was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint from his home in Playas de Rosarito, Mexico, in November 2022, his family in Los Angeles County were allegedly contacted by a neighbor offering to negotiate a ransom.

In the days that followed, a younger man and woman allegedly crossed the border into California and met those family members at a McDonalds in San Ysidro, Calif., where, per the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE, the family handed over $30,000 in cash.

But, prosecutors now allege Mario Alex Medina, the neighbor promising to work as an “intermediary” was actually in on the kidnapping – and, that, even after the ransom was paid, the hostage, identified in federal court documents only by his initials “R.V.,” was, per the indictment obtained by PEOPLE, left “tied up and alone” in a “small subterranean trench.”

On Tuesday, April 9, Mario, 53, and the younger man and woman, who are identified as Mario’s son, Jose Salud Medina, 31, and his sister, Maria Alejandra Medina, 50, were indicted in the kidnapping scheme.

The three family members are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and one count of conspiracy to demand a ransom payment. Mario, known as “Shyboy,” and Jose, nicknamed “Gordo,” are also each charged with one count of making a foreign communication with intent to extort.

The alleged multi-day scheme began November 5, 2022, per the indictment, which asserts that Mario “directed and assisted” the break-in, and that his family members, listed as “co-conspirator hostage takers” then “pistol-whipped” R.V. and fired a shot next to his head.

The following day, a call was allegedly placed to the hostage’s family members, demanding $70,000 for R.V.’s release.

Over several days, family members received through WhatsApp photographs and videos of R.V. in captivity. One video sent on November 7 depicts “hostage takers beating Victim R.V. with their fists, feet, and a hammer,” per the indictment.

Days later on November 10, prosecutors allege that R.V.’s family members received a ransom call “threatening to kill Victim R.V. if the family members did not pay $30,000 in ransom.”

This time Mario – who R.V.’s family later told law enforcement had “always expressed interest in their property” per the criminal complaint – also allegedly told the family that he could help negotiate the transaction through his son, who he allegedly told them “did not associate with good individuals and that Jose could therefore obtain more information about the kidnapping.”

Prosecutors allege in the indictment that the next day Jose and Maria crossed the border and collected $30,000 in cash.

“Don’t worry about it,” Maria allegedly told the family, per the criminal complaint, adding “we can pretty much guarantee [R.V.] will be safe.”

Later that November 11 day, Mexican law enforcement rescued R.V. in the Mexican state of Baja California, Ciaran McEvoy of the Department of Justice tells PEOPLE, adding that authorities “believe he was held somewhere between Tijuana and Rosarito.”

Mario, a Mexican citizen who appeared in district court in Bakersfield, Calif., on Monday, is slated for a detention hearing there Thursday, April 11. He is currently represented by Mai Saleh Shawwa – who did not respond in time for publication – but will be reassigned following his transfer to Los Angeles, McEvoy tells PEOPLE.

Maria, an American citizen who has been in federal custody without bond since March 26, is slated for arraignment in district court in downtown Los Angeles April 16, per the Central District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office. PEOPLE contacted Maria’s federal public defender, Shannon M. Coit, who did not respond in time for publication. 

Jose Medina, an American citizen, is incarcerated in Mexico. It is unclear who is representing him there.