Woman Arrested in Kidnaping of Infant

Police arrested a 44-year-old Pasadena insurance agent Tuesday in the kidnaping of the infant son of a Van Nuys couple last week, saying she had recently miscarried and wanted a baby.

Cossette Vivas was being held in Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of kidnaping 3-month-old Rudy Linares Ortega, Los Angeles police Detective Mel Arnold said. Bail was set at $100,000.

Arnold would not disclose what led to Vivas’ arrest at her home. He said news coverage of the kidnaping, “good detective work” and “some sources of the police” were factors.

Although Vivas resembles a police composite sketch of the suspect as described by the child’s parents, Arnold said, the sketch did not directly lead to her arrest. Money was not a factor in the abduction, he added.

The kidnaping occurred Friday after a woman showed up at the apartment of Haydee Linares Medina, 27, and Javier Ortega, 21, to start work as a live-in baby sitter for the infant and the couple’s 2-year-old son. The woman fled with the baby once she was left alone with the two children.

Baby Taken to Church

The baby was found safe, and apparently well cared for, the next afternoon in a pew at a Highland Park church. The parents said the woman had answered their ad for a sitter in a Spanish-language newspaper. She gave her name as Rosa Lopez and said she lived in the MacArthur Park area near downtown Los Angeles.

Arnold said Vivas took the child because of “a tragic situation.”

Vivas, who is divorced, had had a relationship with a man for about two years, Arnold said. She became pregnant last year and saw the pregnancy as a way to solidify the relationship, he said. Three months ago, when she was five months pregnant, she miscarried, the detective said, adding “This appears to have been the motive.”

Vivas, who has three children ages 21, 17 and 12, was to be arraigned Thursday in Van Nuys Municipal Court, Arnold said.