Community plans vigil for Merced family of 4 kidnapped and killed. Here’s when and where
A candlelight vigil is planned Thursday in Merced’s downtown as part of three nights of mourning in honor of the family of four who were kidnapped and killed this week.
The gatherings are 7 p.m. each night through Saturday at Bob Hart Square, according to community leaders.
The Merced family of four included 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her parents Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
The bodies were found by a farmworker about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a remote area near the intersection of Indiana and Hutchins roads north of Dos Palos and west of El Nido, investigators said.
The sheriff’s office released video earlier Wednesday that showed a masked man taking the family Monday by gunpoint in a truck from a business they operated just south of Merced off South Highway 59, Gateway Parking.
A 48-year-old man, Jesus Manuel Salgado, is in custody in connection with the kidnapping.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said Salgado had tried to take his own life prior to being taken into custody, and had to receive medical care. Although Salgado had been sedated, Warnke said the suspect has since been talking with investigators.
