Where is alleged Modesto kidnap victim Susana Torres? Family members push for answers
The family of Susana Torres is still seeking answers more than three weeks after she was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint by her estranged husband.
About 15 of Torres’ loved ones gathered in front of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday morning, hoping for an update from detectives in a case they believe needs more attention. They wore white, a color they’ve chosen as a symbol for peace, and brought signs demanding justice for the missing woman.
“We want some type of answer that they’re doing something,” Yazmin Cruz, Torres’ cousin, said.
Detectives say Torres, 32, and her two sons were kidnapped by 41-year-old Javier Chavez the evening of April 11 outside Richy’s Mini Mart near Crows Landing Road. They believe Chavez fled to Mexico after dropping both boys, the youngest of which is Chavez’s son, at his parents house that night.
Court records obtained by The Bee show a history of domestic violence in the couple’s relationship dating back to at least 2019, when Torres applied for a restraining order against Chavez shortly after the birth of their son.
Torres had been granted a temporary restraining order that granted her full custody of her children just a few days before her disappearance in relation to another alleged kidnapping attempt by Chavez in late March.
Loved ones still don’t know where Torres is or if she’s still alive. They have been spreading the message on social media and with public displays to raise attention, such as one at the intersection of Hatch and Crows Landing roads a little more than a week after she disappeared.
“They don’t tell us basically anything, and we just want to know something,” Cruz said.
Family wants more from Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office
Cruz said she’s been the only one talking with detectives, and she sometimes feels like her family thinks she should be getting more answers than she can. She calls the detectives often, and she says she’s been told her questions take time away from the investigation. But she also believes communicating with family members is part of the job.
In the meantime, she’s fighting for full custody of both Torres’ sons, with the help of a GoFundMe for related legal fees, while the family waits with the hope that she might return.
Sgt. Luke Schwartz, a spokesperson for the department, said it’s typical for investigators to keep contact limited to one family member and share only limited information.
Detectives gave a brief update to the entire family Tuesday since they’d gathered at the station, but Schwartz said they couldn’t share much with the family or publicly in the event the case goes to court later.
“We’re actively working the case,” Schwartz said. “There’s just not a lot of information we can provide to the family.”
Since detectives believe Torres was kidnapped, her case is being handled by the crimes against persons unit, which also handles homicides and robberies. The department’s missing persons unit usually focuses on voluntary disappearances.
Schwartz said the unit’s resources are limited. There are other crimes, including homicides, that also take up staff time.
Schwartz could not comment on how a kidnapping might be investigated differently than a homicide, but said resolving what happened to Torres is still a department priority.
“They are doing their due diligence,” Schwartz said. “There’s a lot of layers to peel back here.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 6:34 AM.
