RIALTO – Police arrested a Texas man who was suspected of kidnapping his former girlfriend on Sunday. Cristoval Avila, 29, of Fort Worth, Texas, once a San Bernardino-area resident in nearby Muscoy, was arrested on Monday after police finally tracked him by using a GPS device attached to the victim’s cell phone.
Avila reportedly lured Melissa Angulo, 18, to a Western Union store on the 500 block of South Riverside Ave. on Sunday, having promised to wire money to her. Police said he didn’t send any money. Avila, however, dragged Avula to his car, placed her in the vehicle and drove away, they said.
Melissa Angulo, in a photo released by police while she was missing
Angulo had moved to Texas with Avila after having given birth to their child. When they separated earlier this summer, Angulo returned to Rialto with their year-old daughter.
She had recently contacted Avila, said police, to ask for money. He promised to wire the money to the Rialto store. Police said Angulo’s mother had dropped her off at the Western Union store and would pick her up after she received the money. But when Angulo’s mother returned and didn’t see her daughter, she discovered from Western Union employees that Angulo had left with a man. Surveillance footage showed Angulo struggling with Avila in the parking lot.
Critoval Avila in a photo released while he was being sought. He has now been arrested.
The video also unveiled footage of people at a nearby restaurant that witnessed the abduction, said police, who also contacted airports, bus stations and relayed alerts to other law enforcement agencies.
It wasn’t until Monday when the GPS device on Angulo’s cell phone led police to a location at Second Street and Lena Road in San Bernardino. Police said she was unharmed. They also said the couple’s daughter was not with Angulo when she had been abducted by Avila.
Avila, who is a convicted sex offender with a history of engaging in sex acts with girls under 18, was booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on charges of kidnapping.
Read More:
Redlands Daily Facts: Rialto police use GPS to track kidnapping victim
KABC: Woman rescued after being kidnapped by ex-boyfriend in Rialto
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