Juliani Cardenas (left) and Jose Esteban Rodriguez
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Photos: Weird CaliforniaPATTERSON (CBS13/AP) – Authorities pulled a kidnapping suspect’s car from the bottom of a frigid Central California canal Friday, but the bodies of the suspect and the missing 4-year-old boy were not inside.
The badly damaged Toyota Corolla recovered from the Delta-Mendota canal along with two other vehicles just before 6 p.m. was empty, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said.
The car belongs to 27-year-old Jose Rodriguez, who is suspected of kidnapping Juliani Cardenas, his ex-girlfriend’s son, from the arms of the boy’s grandmother in Patterson on Jan. 18.
Divers have been combing the canal since last week after receiving a tip that a car matching the one in which Rodriguez allegedly fled was seen heading into the water.
The car was found with sonar Friday morning in a tunnel about 50 feet below the surface. An underwater camera showed its license plate and confirmed the vehicle was the suspect’s 2003 silver Corolla, Christianson said.
A single diver entered the water shortly after 4 p.m. to attach a line to the car so a tow truck could drag it from the canal. A backup diver was in the water to assist.
Authorities will continue to search the canal for the bodies in the event they floated downstream, Christianson said. He said there was no visible indication that Rodriguez had fled the scene.
Two of the car’s windows were down when it was pulled from the canal, Christianson said.
During a briefing for reporters Friday afternoon, Christianson said he feared the worst.
“We’re certainly saddened by the fact that we found the car even though we knew we would,” he said. “As these days have progressed, we knew that the likelihood of bringing little Juliani home alive was diminishing exponentially.”
Although deputies say they did not know if the bodies of Juliani and Rodriguez are in the car, all evidence leads them to believe they were in the car when it went into the canal.
Police say Rodriguez is the ex-boyfriend of the victim’s mother, Tabitha Cardenas. He is not the boy’s biological father.
Juliani’s mother and family are not commenting on the car being found, but did post a note on the door of their Patterson home.
The note, written in both English and Spanish said:
“As we await news of our beloved Juliani, we ask for privacy and your continued prayers. – Cardenas Family”
(credit: CBS)
Tabitha said she is 8-months pregnant with the suspect’s child. She told CBS13 earlier this week that she tried to maintain a friendly relationship with him after they broke up, but his rising anger grew more difficult to handle.
“I was trying to be friends for the baby, but at times it’s kind of hard to even do that,” Tabitha said.
Although, Rodriguez isn’t Juliani’s father, he told her he wanted the boy for himself.
The divers had a two-hour window before water levels began to rise. Visibility in the 42-degree water was nearly zero.
The car was located toward the middle of a long underground tunnel connecting two sections of the canal.
“It’s exactly like diving in a cave, except one where you can’t see,” Christianson said.
