MERCED, Calif. — Authorities in Merced County have arrested the brother of the suspected kidnapper after four abducted family members were found dead in a rural almond orchard in Northern California.

Alberto Salgado was taken into custody Thursday night for criminal conspiracy, accessory and destroying evidence, the county sheriff’s office said.

His brother, 48-year-old Jesus Manuel Salgado, was arrested Tuesday. He was booked Thursday into the Merced County Jail on four counts of murder and four counts of kidnapping, authorities said.

Eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri and her parents — 27-year-old mother Jasleen Kaur and 36-year-old father Jasdeep Singh — were taken against their will from a business on Monday, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. The baby’s uncle, 39-year-old Amandeep Singh, was also kidnapped, the sheriff said.

Alberto Salgado was arrested for criminal conspiracy, accessory and destroying evidence, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office said.

Merced County Sheriff’s Office

The sheriff called it “horribly senseless.”

Jesus Salgado attempted to take his own life “prior to law enforcement involvement” on Tuesday and was receiving medical attention, which delayed investigators’ ability to talk to him, the sheriff’s office said. Warnke said Wednesday night that investigators had spoken with him. Interviews were ongoing Thursday

Jesus Salgado was arrested in 2005 for robbery, burglary and criminal threats against a man and his family, according to the police report.

On Wednesday, sheriff’s officials revealed surveillance video showing the family’s movements outside the business — a trucking company — on the day of the kidnapping.

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