Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
An illegal Mexican immigrant, who was previously deported of the United States five times, has been arrested after allegedly trying to kidnap an Alabama teenager in a store parking lot around 5:40 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, according to officials.
Yordy Centeno Melchor, 31, is accused of attempted second degree kidnapping and is being held on $100,000 bail in connection with the incident.
“It appears as if, when he got to the parking lot, he convinced the girl, who was trying to move a stroller,” Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin told Fox News Digital. “And she was in that area or near his vehicle. But he convinced her to come closer to the vehicle. She’s a girl. She’s 17 years old.”
Another man nearby apparently saw the girl “in distress” and confronted Melchor, at which point he allegedly fled the scene, and the sheriff’s office issued a lookout for the area (BOLO).
Yordy Centeno Melchor, 31, is charged with attempted second-degree kidnapping and was held on $100,000 bail in connection with the incident. (Elmore County Sheriff’s Office)
sheriff’s office He later obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s phone, and in his “notes” section he had detailed “what he was going to do,” Franklin said.
“He was going to give her $200, and I won’t go into the details of that, but he was obviously trying to convince her to get in the car,” the sheriff explained.
ICE SEEKS TO EXPAND MIGRANT DETENTION FACILITIES, ACLU SAYS
Officials are not sure exactly when Melchor wrote the note, but the victim told authorities that he showed it to her, possibly as a way to tell the girl that he was going to offer her money.
The alleged kidnapping attempt occurred in a Holtsville parking lot. (Google maps)
An employee at the Holtsville store where the incident occurred shared video footage of the parking lot with authorities, who were able to find the suspect’s license plate number.
Days later, in a county 30 miles north of Elmore, officers stopped a vehicle matching the one at the crime scene and ran its license plates, which matched the suspect vehicle. The driver, Melchor, also matched the suspect’s description.
“We are going to cooperate with ICE. We are always going to cooperate with ICE.”
Officials were later able to positively identify the suspect and his previous deportations. They are still working to determine what led to Melchor being deported five separate times.
Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said his office will cooperate with ICE. (Facebook)
After his arrest, a local woman saw Melchor’s mugshot and reported seeing a man with a similar appearance in the girls’ bathroom of a Walmart.
Melchor has ties to San Antonio, Texas, and Shelby County, Alabama. He was known to drive between those two areas visiting family, the sheriff said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The suspect may face additional charges if authorities can identify other victims.
Franklin described his officers as a “great group of guys” who “all have the same situation to keep Elmore County safe.” He added that Elmore County is not a particularly large or small county, but officials “just don’t deal with many” crimes of this nature in the area.
