Amber Alert for 2 California children issued after their mother is found dead
01/29/2025 12:14 pm PST
Update (1/30/2025): The Kings County Sheriff's Office announced that an Amber Alert for two young girls has been canceled.
According to a press conference, Jonathan Maldonado-Cruz allegedly killed 22-year-old Madeline Rose Cuevas on the night of Jan. 27 or the morning of Jan. 28 and left with their two children, 3-year-old Arya Maldonado and 2-year-old Alana Maldonado.
With help from the FBI, the sheriff's office began tracking Maldonado-Cruz's cellphone and learned he crossed the border into Mexico. On Jan. 30, Maldonado-Cruz surrendered the girls to law enforcement at the border crossing in San Ysidro, and he was taken into custody.
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HANFORD, Calif. (TCN) -- Authorities issued an Amber Alert this week for two young children after finding their mother deceased.
On Jan. 28, at approximately 4 p.m., the Kings County Sheriff's Office responded to a home on Fourth Place to perform a welfare check, where they discovered a woman dead with a gunshot wound. The sheriff’s office did not disclose her name.
Upon further investigation, detectives identified 23-year-old Jonathan Maldonado-Cruz as the primary suspect. He allegedly left the home with his and the victim’s two children, 3-year-old Arya Maldonado and 2-year-old Alana Maldonado.
Maldonado-Cruz reportedly drove off in a 2020 Hyundai Elantra with California license plate number 8LZD084. Investigators believe Maldonado-Cruz is possibly on his way to Mexico and should be considered armed and dangerous.
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