Las Vegas kidnapping case shifts to drug investigation

‘It’s a blessing this child has been found,’ Las Vegas Police Capt. Vincent Cannito said at a news conference early Sunday. He said that Cole was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure but that the boy appeared healthy and in ‘extremely good condition.’ Police say they think the boy was kidnapped by Mexican drug dealers as revenge after being ripped off by the child’s grandfather. The abduction alarmed law enforcement because it resembled kidnappings that are common in Mexico, where warring drug cartels snatch rivals, children and civilians. Police said Cole was taken Wednesday by three gunmen who tied up his mother and her boyfriend and ransacked their house. Police said the abduction was triggered by millions of dollars stolen from a drug cartel by Clemons Tinnemeyer, Cole’s maternal grandfather. Tinnemeyer, 51, had been hiding for several weeks but was arrested late Friday in Riverside. He is being held as a material witness and is due to appear in federal court there today.