HOUSTON – On Wednesday morning, a southeast Houston short-term rental house was raided by the FBI and SWAT agents in what was referred to as ‘a hostage rescue operation.’ Today, court documents provide more details about what law enforcement says happened.
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Among other revelations, the documents say a man was kidnapped and being held for ransom in the home.
Read the full court document here.
The situation first came to the attention of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office on March 27, when a woman reported that her boyfriend, Williams Manriquez, had been kidnapped in San Antonio shortly after returning from Mexico where he’d visited his ill mother. She wasn’t aware of his means of transportation, but she was aware he was entering the country illegally.
She said she had received a phone call on March 25 from an unknown man, who threatened to kill him if she spoke to law enforcement.
The woman told police she also received an image of Manriquez with his hands bound and guns pointed at his head. The caller demanded $15,000, and later provided Zelle account information to complete the transaction.
On March 26, Manriquez’s family members sent $4,000 to the captors in two separate transactions. Roughly $2,000 was also sent on a later date. In a partially recorded conversation with the captors, a male voice says that they are going to beat Manriquez up, but they wouldn’t kill him.
On April 1, police traced one of the phone calls to the rental property at 4309 Harby St. in Houston. The owner provided authorities with doorbell camera footage showing a total of 13 individuals entering the property, one of which was Manriquez.
On April 2, one of the kidnappers told Manriquez’s family he would “have a bad day” if they did not receive payment by 3:30 p.m. A search warrant was obtained later that day.
Around 2:18 a.m. on the morning on April 3, FBI Hostage Rescue Team executed the search warrant seen on the doorbell footage of the original report.
- SEE THE ORGINAL REPORT: FBI, SWAT teams raid short-term rental in SE Houston, arresting 4 in ‘hostage rescue operation’
Manriquez was found in the home, along with three other people also confirmed to be kidnapping victims.
After crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without issue, the four individuals had voluntarily gotten into a vehicle they believed was taking them to their intended destination. The front passenger of the car then held them at gunpoint.
Four individuals, Luis Montilla, Gerson Alfaro, Keven Marcano and Elloy Pedraza have been arrested and a federal complaint has been filed against them.