left, leading her to believe that the gunmen fled by car.
San Bernardino sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller told the Associated Press that authorities along the Mexican border have been put on alert, and FBI investigators were also helping in the investigation. Detectives emphasize that Briant’s parents are not suspects.
Less than 200 stranger abductions nationwide are reported annually, according to the FBI.
Last year another young boy, Cole Puffinburger, was abducted from a Las Vegas home by three men posing as police officers. Police said they believe the men were Mexican drug dealers and that the kidnapping at gunpoint was a “message” to the Childs grandfather.
Clemons Fred Tinnemeyer, 51, the grandfather of the kidnapped 6-year-old Nevada boy, was arrested by the FBI’s fugitive task force in Riverside. According to police Tinnemeyer allegedly stole millions of dollars from a powerful Mexican drug cartel out of Tijuana, Baja Mexico and believe as a result a contract hit was ordered. Unconfirmed reports say Tinnemeyer turned himself in rather than be found by the Mexican cartels assassination team. It is believed that Tinnemeyer played a major roll in the distribution and sells of drugs in Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
Federal officials say they believe the kidnappers were attempting to locate Tinnemeyer to collect the debt or to take other serious action, but because Tinnemeyer was not there the Mexican gangsters took Cole and were seeking a ransom as payback and would trade Cole for the amount owed. Investigators in the Rodriguez kidnapping in San Bernardino are checking for any similarities.