14-year-old uses Snapchat to tell friends she's been kidnapped

Amanda del Castillo Image
Friday, January 17, 2020
Teen uses Snapchat to escape kidnappers, app leads authorities to San Jose motel
Police said the teen was kidnapped, drugged, sexually assaulted and driven to San Jose before being rescued.

SAN JOSE, California -- A 14-year-old girl is safe after she used the multimedia messaging app Snapchat to escape her kidnappers.

Police said the teen was kidnapped, drugged, sexually assaulted and driven to San Jose, California, before being rescued.

A "suspicious circumstance" led San Jose Police Department to the E-Z 8 Motel on Tuesday morning.

Around 11:08 a.m., officers found Albert Thomas Vasquez, 55, leaving a room on the second floor. They said the victim, a 14-year-old girl, was inside.

"Somebody shouldn't be taking anybody's young daughter and kidnapping her like that," motel guest Joshua Holmes said. "That's just not right."

Police said Vasquez met the teen on Jan. 14. Police believe the man drugged her, then called two other men.

SJPD said Vasquez, 34-year-old Antonio Quirino Salvador, and 31-year old Hediberto Gonzalez Avarenga, drove the girl to San Jose.

Officers report Vasquez sexually assaulted the teen in the vehicle.

According to police, when the group arrived at the E-Z 8, the men carried the 14-year-old to a room, where Vasquez sexually assaulted her again.

Other motel guests are calling these serious accusations shameful, but not shocking.

"I work in the motel industry, and it's really common," Angie Pueblas said. "So, it does not surprise me at all that this happened."

In a media release, SJPD explained the teen used Snapchat to let her friends know she had been kidnapped and didn't know where she was.

Her friends used features within the app to find her location and called 911.

Suspects Salvador and Avarenga were arrested in San Jose on Wednesday and face felony kidnapping and felony conspiracy charges.

SJPD's Sexual Assault Investigations Unit arrested Vasquez for felony charges, including kidnapping to commit rape, digital penetration with a child under 14 years with force, false imprisonment, lewd act with a child 14 or 15 years with force, and rape by intoxication or controlled substance.