Vancouver police have arrested a fourth suspect in a kidnapping and robbery case for allegedly helping a mother abduct her 4-year-old daughter during a supervised visit.
Court records show Sherri Franchesca Trigueros, 16, faces charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, vehicle theft, second-degree theft and first-degree custodial interference.
Trigueros conspired with the girl’s mother, Esmeralda Lopez-Lopez, and three other suspects to kidnap an acquaintance and steal his car so Lopez-Lopez could drive to Mexico with the girl, identified by police as Aranza Ochoa-Lopez, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Aranza, who had been in foster care since 2017 when she was removed from her home, was reportedly taken Oct. 25 during a supervised visit at Vancouver Mall.
Trigueros apparently drove to Mexico with the mother. The Vancouver Police Department said in a news release Wednesday that Trigueros turned herself in to authorities at the U.S. border with Mexico and was extradited to Clark County on Monday.
She was set to appear in court for an arraignment hearing on Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court.
Her codefendants — Francisco Javier Hernandez-Reyes and Erick Garcia-Valdovinos, both 18, and Alejandro Xulu-Sop, 15 — have been similarly charged with a handful of felonies in the alleged plot, which they planned over the course of two weeks, police said.
Trigueros already had been named in one of the probable cause affidavits filed against her codefendant.
A passerby located Jose Orellana-Gomez bound in duct tape in Vancouver’s Bagley Downs neighborhood sometime on the same day as the alleged abduction.
Orellana-Gomez told police that an acquaintance, Lopez-Lopez, invited him to her apartment because she needed help with a ride to Centralia. He spent about 20 minutes in the apartment with her before three people in masks carrying knives showed up, according to the affidavit.
The assailants told Orellana-Gomez that they were taking his car and demanded his credit card and PIN. Orellana-Gomez was tied to a chair for about 12 hours before he managed to free himself and find help, according to the affidavit.
Trigueros stands accused of being one of the masked assailants. She waited with others on the deck of Lopez-Lopez’s apartment until she signaled for them to enter, according to the affidavit.
Trigueros also allegedly switched vehicles in the mall parking lot and headed out of state with Lopez-Lopez. She, the mother and her daughter were spotted in the stolen red Chevrolet Cobalt, according to police.
Investigators tracked down the first suspect in the case, Garcia-Valdovinos, through social media, according to a probable cause affidavit. He reportedly named all of the other suspects.
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