Arrests Made, but Still No Trace of Kidnapped Woman

The last time anyone saw Bay Area resident Elvira Babb was when a co-worker dropped her off at the Seafood City Supermarket in Vallejo, Calif., around 3pm on June 29. The next day Babb's son John received a text message in which an anonymous sender threatened to kill his 57-year-old mom unless John paid an undisclosed cash sum that was less than $100,000, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. When he went to his mom's home, he saw no signs of forced entry—but her small dog was dead, reports the Mercury News. Now police have arrested four suspects they are "confident" are the "right people," but Babb is still nowhere to be found, and police confess that while they think the motive is monetary, they lack "many solid leads" and that "the longer it goes, the less likely" it is she'll be found alive.

"We've run into a dead end," says a Vallejo PD rep. "We've got all our suspects in custody. We're confident we have the right people. And we still don't have our victim." All four suspects—Emmanuel Espinoza, 26; Jalon Brown, 32; Larry Young, 23; and Lovely Rauzol, 27—were arrested over the course of Friday and Saturday. Espinoza is thought to know Babb. The Daily Republic reports the four were booked on suspicion of kidnapping for ransom. KTVU notes Babb's home is located about eight blocks from the supermarket. (Last year, police in Vallejo came under fire for declaring that another kidnapping was a hoax, only to be proved wrong.)