Media Release 264
Kidnapping Investigation ends with Child Rescued
The Birmingham Police Department reports an active kidnapping investigation is underway after a child was abducted by a family member; the child has since been rescued.
On Thursday, November 5, 2021, at around 6:30 p.m., West Precinct officers were dispatched to a residence in the 3200 block of 17th Street Ensley on report of a kidnapping. The call details, which came through a language interpreter line (Spanish), stated a group of males abducted a 3-year-old female child and fled from the residence.
With the help of a Spanish-speaking patrol officer on the scene, the preliminary investigation revealed that the paternal uncle of the child was at the residence visiting the child. During the visit, the uncle forcibly abducted the child along with another male. The males fled the residence and drove away from the scene in a dark blue sedan. Family members informed officers they believed the males were en route to Mexico to reunite the child with her father. Also, officers learned there were domestic violence allegations between the father and mother of the child.
Patrol officers issued a “Be On the Look Out” report for the child and suspects via the Birmingham 911 Communications Division. Officers from the Birmingham Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center began assisting our patrol officers. Birmingham Police Crimes Against Persons detectives responded to the scene and partnered with state and federal agencies to locate the child.
At around 9:05 p.m., BPD learned the suspects and child were near the Mississippi State Line. We relayed this information to Mississippi law enforcement personnel as well as our federal partners. Law enforcement officers observed a vehicle matching the suspect’s vehicle traveling on Interstate 20 in Pearl, Mississippi. Officers executed a traffic stop on the vehicle and took two men into custody. Officers safely rescued the child. BPD detectives confirmed the child that was rescued by law enforcement personnel was in fact the abducted child.
The suspects have been identified as:
Elis Sadiel Salgado, (18), H/M, of Atlanta, Georgia. (Uncle)
Steven Andrew Holguin, (38), H/M, of El Paso, Texas.
Both suspects are currently in the custody of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office.
On Friday, November 5, 2021, BPD detectives discussed the case information with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. After reviewing the case information, detectives obtained warrants against both suspects for Kidnapping 1st Degree (No Bond).
Both suspects are currently in the custody of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office awaiting extradition to Alabama.
The child has since been reunited with her mother.
The Birmingham Police Department would like to thank the following law enforcement agencies for their assistance in this investigation:
ALEA, Alabama Fusion Center, U.S. Marshals, Mississippi Highway Patrol, FBI, Homeland Security, Pearl Police Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, and the Flowood PD in Mississippi.
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Media Release 264- Kidnapping Investigation ends with Child Rescued
