VAN NUYS : Clerk Kidnaped in Robbery Released

A Van Nuys grocery clerk kidnaped in May during a robbery of the store where he worked was held captive for three days without food or water and driven to Mexico before being released, police said.

He is now home, according to another store employee.

Rigoberto Murillo, about 30, was left hungry but unharmed on a country road in the Mexican state of Sinaloa by his captors, according to Los Angeles Police Detective Ray Hernandez, who is continuing to investigate the case.

“The suspects are still at large,” Hernandez said, and probably in Mexico.

Murillo was never considered to be a suspect, police said.

The gunman who took Murillo also made off with approximately $60,000 in cash and $10,000 in checks during the May 7 morning holdup of the Carneceria Vallarta, in the 13300 block of Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys.

Police are now seeking two to four Latino men in connection with the robbery, Hernandez said.

The kidnaping confounded store employees and police alike, who said they didn’t see any reason to kidnap Murillo, a six-year employee, when the suspect already had the money in his hands.

Murillo could not be reached for comment.