Kidnapping suspects captured
Published 6:09 pm Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A suspected kidnapping case that began in Virginia, near the Kentucky state line, ended Tuesday in Clanton thanks to a cell phone call.
Officials in Wise County, Virginia issued kidnapping warrants for two individuals for the alleged kidnapping of an 11-year-old girl from a state foster home. The girl, Danielle Baker, from Pound, Va., was believed to have been abducted by her sister.
According to Chilton County Sheriff Kevin Davis, his department became involved in the search when it was discovered that one of the suspected kidnappers had used their cell phone in the Clanton area.
“We received a call from the U.S. Marshals that they had pinged the cell phone and had seen that it was in the Clanton area,” Davis said. “Our investigators then began their search for the suspect’s vehicle.”
Davis said investigators discovered the vehicle at Martin’s Trailer Court on Enterprise Road and took into custody 25-year-old Rafael Martinez and 18-year-old Kimberly Rose, both of Wahalla, S.C. Rose is the half-sister of the 11-year-old victim.
“They are both in custody in the Chilton County Jail awaiting their extradition hearing,” Davis said, adding that Baker and an 11-month-old child were taken into protective custody by the Department of Human Resources.
“Any time there is a child involved in a case like this, we are so concerned to make sure the child is not hurt in any way,” Davis said. “We’re just happy that we could help in this case and that it all ended without anyone getting injured.”