2 Downey Men Held in Abduction, Slaying

Investigators arrested two Downey men Thursday and charged them with killing a 61-year-old Santa Ana man after kidnapping him Tuesday.

Jose Manuel Bernal, 19, and Carlos Jose Deltoro, 18, are being held without bail in Orange County jail, said Sgt. Raul Luna.

Police caught the two in the city of Commerce by tracing a series of ransom calls made to the family from pay phones. Police said the ransom demands continued after the victim, John Ruiz, 61, had been slain.

Family members reported Ruiz missing Tuesday when he failed to show up for work at the Santa Ana Unified School District, where he was a landscaper. His Dodge van was also missing.

After arresting the two, police searched the area and found Ruiz’s van with the body inside. Ruiz had been bound, gagged and blindfolded. He had been dead for at least a day, Luna said. The van was parked at Zindell and Gage avenues in Commerce.

‘He met a very brutal death,” Luna said, adding that police did not know why Ruiz was singled out for kidnapping. The kidnappers had demanded tens of thousands dollars, as well as other valuables, he said.

The circumstances appear unusual, he said, and there may be other suspects.

The suspects had no weapons when they were arrested as they drove near the Slauson Avenue ramp of the Santa Ana Freeway about 10 p.m.

Family members sadly spoke of Ruiz as a father of four and grandfather of nine who loved to go deep-sea fishing, listen to mariachi music and play the slot machines in Las Vegas.