Ex-Boyfriend Sought in Abduction

Oceanside police are looking for a 19-year-old woman who was forced into a van by two men, one identified as her ex-boyfriend, Tuesday morning as she returned home from an errand at a neighbor’s house.

Irma Martinez of Oceanside was wearing a blue-striped tank top, tie-dyed jeans and sandals when she was last seen, said Sgt. Bill Krunglevich, an Oceanside police spokesman.

The abduction occurred about 8 a.m. in the 1600 block of Kraft Street.

Krunglevich said witnesses identified one of the men as George Rios, 20, of Oceanside, Martinez’s ex-boyfriend. The other man was described as thin.

Police are concerned about Martinez’s safety because family members said that Rios is “irrational, distraught and possibly violent.”

Two city street department workers who saw the abduction followed the van Martinez was forced into but lost it in traffic at Mission Avenue and Canyon Drive, Krunglevich said.

Police later found the van, which police said Rios borrowed from its owner, parked off Canyon Drive.

Investigators are now looking for a light-gray, 1982 four-door Buick registered to Rios, Krunglevich said. The license plate is 1EAF610.

Krunglevich said the FBI is aiding in the investigation because it was a forced abduction seen by witnesses and because the victim might be taken across state lines.

“There is a possibility of them leaving the country,” Krunglevich said, referring to the proximity of Mexico. “We have no idea as to their destination, north, south or east.”

Anyone with information should call the Oceanside police at 966-4958 or 966-4913.