Local News in Brief : Boy, 3, Kidnaped Again

A 3-year-old boy who was the subject of a custody battle involving a clan of Mexican Gypsies last November has been abducted again in Downey by several people believed to be relatives of his dead father, police said.

Carlos Alvarez and his mother, Yolanda Aguilar, 20, were forced into a rented U-Haul truck as they walked along a street Wednesday afternoon, Downey Police Sgt. William Courtney said.

The truck, rented earlier in the day in East Los Angeles, was abandoned minutes after the abduction about a mile away. Police found Aguilar uninjured, locked in the back of the truck.

Investigators suspect that the boy was taken by members of his father’s family, who have been known to live in Mexico, Bolivia and Venezuela.

The boy’s uncle and grandfather reported to police last November that a baby-sitter had stolen Carlos from them. But police later determined that Aguilar had abducted her own son and allowed Carlos to remain with her.

The two men were booked in connection with the November incident for filing a false report but skipped bail and disappeared, police said.