Accused abductor is struck and killed by bus in Mexico

A Lake Forest man accused of shooting his estranged wife and abducting his 9-year-old son died after being struck by a bus in Mexico, ending a days-long run from the law during which he changed vehicles, tried to buy an airline ticket and eventually crossed the border, authorities said Monday.

Lonnie Ramos, 46, was killed Sunday in the border city of Juarez, said Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino. He was crossing a busy street on foot when he was struck by a bus. He was pronounced dead at a Juarez hospital, Amormino said.

Orange County sheriff’s officials believe that Ramos intentionally stepped in front of the bus, Amormino said. The bus driver was being held by Mexican police.

Ramos dropped off his son, Ryan Ramos, at a Mormon church in Juarez about 11 a.m. Sunday, Ryan’s grandparents said. Ryan’s four-day odyssey ended Monday morning, when he was reunited with his mother in her Mission Viejo hospital room.

“He just started crying,” his grandmother, Karen Schiffilea, said at a news conference outside the hospital Monday afternoon. “He jumped up on her bed, and it was an emotional but bittersweet reunion. He was so happy and so relieved.”

The ordeal began Wednesday when Gynnae Ramos went to pick up Ryan from her estranged husband’s home, authorities said. Investigators said Lonnie Ramos shot through the windshield of the car she was in, hitting her twice.

Lonnie Ramos then fled in a red Porsche that he later switched for a rented RV, authorities said. Deputies believe Ryan was not in the Porsche with his father and was at another location when the shooting occurred. It is unclear when he joined his father in the RV.

An Amber Alert was posted on Southern California freeways, first for the Porsche and then for the RV. At some point, Ramos apparently tried to buy an airline ticket at John Wayne Airport but was rebuffed when he refused to provide identification, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Ryan’s trek included living in the RV driven by his father and then in a Mexican hotel, where he saw pictures of himself and the RV on a TV news program but couldn’t understand the Spanish words, said his grandparents, Karen and Tom Schiffilea.

At times he was locked inside the RV. Ryan knew that he had been driven out of the United States, but didn’t know where, his grandparents said.

The most difficult experience for Ryan was being left at the church, they said.

“His dad just left him there alone,” Karen Schiffilea said. “He didn’t know a soul, didn’t get a hug or a kiss. He just left him off at the church.”

Church security notified U.S. law enforcement officials, and Ryan was taken to the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, Amormino said. Ramos was a recent Mormon convert, he said.

Gynnae Ramos was reported in good condition at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where she was being treated for gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach. Part of a bullet had also struck her right eye, Amormino said.

A .40-caliber handgun was found in the RV Ramos had driven, which was left near a border crossing near Yuma, Ariz. Sheriff’s deputies were conducting ballistics tests to determine whether it was the gun used in the shooting.

Deputies who responded to the Wednesday shooting praised Gynnae Ramos’ courage, saying she had methodically rolled down her car window, shown them her injuries, told them who shot her and given them possible contacts and phone numbers.

Deputies described her as a “tough survivor,” the grandparents said.

Ryan has not been told the entire story about his father’s alleged actions and subsequent death. Tom Schiffilea said they will seek professional counseling before doing so.

Neighbors described Lonnie Ramos as a good father who cared for his son. Roommate Randy Jick said he and Ramos had recently decided to sell the home they had bought together in Lake Forest three years ago, after the Ramoses filed for divorce.

He and Ramos could no longer afford the mortgage, Jick said.

Ramos, who had worked as a contractor and salesman, hadn’t had a job in months, Jick said.

But Gynnae Ramos had been living in fear, her parents said.

“We always had a feeling that something like this would happen,” said Tom Schiffilea, referring to what he said was his son-in-law’s violent streak.

“He had told her that ‘If you ever leave me, it would be a living hell,’ ” Schiffilea said.

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david.reyes@latimes.com

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paloma.esquivel@latimes.com