FBI Recovers Missing Pelham Minor in California

FBI Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Richard D. Schwein, Jr. and Chief Tommy Thomas of the Pelham, Alabama Police Department announced that on Friday, February 7, 2014, the FBI Los Angeles Inland Regional Apprehension Team (IRAT) arrested Ramon Nunez Cervantes, of Alabaster, Alabama, in Corona, California, for interference with child custody, a state charge.

A minor female was reported missing to the Pelham Police Department on Friday morning and the report indicated that the she may be in the company of Cervantes. The Pelham Police Department then requested FBI assistance. The FBI Birmingham Child Exploitation Task Force investigation led to information that Cervantes was in the Riverside, California area, and that information was shared with the FBI’s Riverside, California Resident Agency. After a short surveillance, the couple was observed leaving a residence in Corona, California, and getting into the suspect vehicle on Friday evening. IRAT enlisted assistance from officers with the Corona Police Department who conducted a traffic stop and pulled the suspect and victim over. Cervantes was taken into custody without incident and is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond in Riverside County at the Robert Presley Detention Center. The female victim was returned to her mother Sunday evening.

SAC Schwein and Chief Thomas expressed their sincere thanks to the Shelby County, Alabama District Attorney’s Office; Pelham, Alabama Police Department; the FBI’s Riverside Resident Agency; and the FBI’s Inland Regional Apprehension Team (IRAT), which includes members from the FBI; the Riverside, California Police Department; the San Bernardino, California Police Department; and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. IRAT was assisted by officers with the Corona Police Department.