By Chuck Hustmyre

April 16, 2007

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VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. (Crime Library) —  A quick call from a payphone to Ester Nieves' parents' house in Reedley, Calif. gave investigators the lead they were looking for Friday in the three-day old kidnapping case and allowed them to rescue the pregnant 17-year-old and arrest three more people suspected of involvement in her abduction.

Late Friday afternoon, when Ester, who law enforcement authorities say was snatched from her home Tuesday night by her estranged boyfriend, 18-year-old Juan Carlos Martinez, called her parents from a payphone in Virginia City, local investigators and FBI agents were already looking for the missing teen 25 miles away in Reno, Nev.

Although authorities did not provide any details about the call, they did say they traced it to the payphone from which it was made. As soon as the trace was confirmed, the FBI's Reno office told investigators to saturate the area around C Street.

As Storey County sheriff's deputies cruised the area, one deputy spotted a young woman near the phone. The deputy stopped and questioned her about what she was doing. Although her answers seemed vague and possibly untruthful, the deputy let the woman go but quickly set up a surveillance of her.

The woman soon led deputies to a green Saturn with three other adults in it.

As the Saturn left town, sheriff's deputies pounced. They stopped the car and found Ester in the back seat with her ex-boyfriend, and accused kidnapper, Juan Carlos Martinez. Ester appeared to be in good health but was still bleeding from a cut on her back that she suffered during her violent kidnapping.

In the front seat of the Saturn, deputies found the woman they had stopped near the payphone, 19-year-old Damariz Michi, and her boyfriend, Juan Ramirez, 30, who is also Martinez's cousin.

Next Page

18-Year-Old Snatches Pregnant Ex-Girlfriend in Bloody California Kidnapping

Contact Chuck Hustmyre at chuck3174@yahoo.com

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