Two Teens Held in Slaying of Santa Ana Man

Investigators have arrested two Downey men on suspicion of killing a 61-year-old Santa Ana man after kidnapping him on Tuesday.

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

Police caught the two Thursday in 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 also was 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. Ruiz 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,” Lunda said, adding police did not know why Ruiz was singled out for kidnapping. The kidnappers demanded tens of thousands of dollars, as well as other valuables, he said.

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

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Luna said. “And I’ve been doing this for 28 years.”

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 recalled Ruiz, a father of four and grandfather of nine who loved to deep-sea fish, listen to mariachi music and pull the slots in Las Vegas.

“He was very close to his family,” said Maritza Ruiz, his daughter-in-law. “He was always helping everyone out.

“He had a good life,” she said. “It’s a shame it had to happen this way. I guess that’s sometimes what happens in life.”