Edinburg woman accused of plotting kidnapping for ransom

McALLEN — An Edinburg woman and her husband face federal charges of plotting to kidnap two children in North Carolina. The pair is also accused of planning to send ransom notes to the children’s family, threatening to kill their youngest victim if payment demands were not met.

A superseding indictment handed down Wednesday alleges Ruben Garcia-Rosario, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., contacted his wife in July and requested the woman’s assistance in writing a ransom note to be used in a scheme to kidnap two young victims. In exchange for her assistance, Garcia-Rosario promised 21-year-old Linda Gonzalez $10,000.

In the note they wrote, the couple threatened to kill one of the children if the family failed to pay the ransom, court documents state. Two months later, Garcia-Rosario was spotted driving up to an elementary school bus stop on several occasions in a residential neighborhood in Cornelius, N.C., with the apparent intent to kidnap a pair of children as they waited for their school bus.

The indictment alleges that on at least one occasion, the man used his cell phone to take a photo of the children at the bus stop, according to the court documents. He was driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

Authorities arrested Garcia-Rosario in late September, shortly after the man attempted to hire a Spanish-language translator to help him communicate with the victims’ families, according to the court records. The man possessed several ransom notes, a loaded .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol, ammunition, duct tape, latex gloves, two Mexican passports and a ski mask. Authorities also found a photo of the children stored in his cell phone’s memory.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office cooperated in the investigation.

Garcia-Rosario had previously faced multiple counts of unlawful entry into the United States, illegal possession of a firearm and use and possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.

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Ana Ley covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.