More information has come available following the alleged kidnapping of a 2-year-old boy in rural Pope County last week.
Authorities say that the man who's accused of kidnapping the boy took the child from a bedroom, going through an open window.
According to the Pope County Attorney's Office, Victor Ramirez has been charged with kidnapping the boy after taking him from a room the boy shared with his mother while she was out working and other family members were sleeping.
The kidnapping took place on the morning of Thursday, March 17, in Westport, Minnesota, according to the complaint obtained by Fox9.
The boy's mother had worked a night shift at a nearby farm and returned home to look for her son in her bedroom when she discovered he was missing. The child had reportedly been put to bed around 8 p.m. the night prior by other members of the family.
The family searched the house, finding a note written in Spanish and English asking for forgiveness for taking the child. The note was also "indicating that there was a prior plan to do so," the complaint said.
The mother called the police at 4:29 a.m. with an AMBER Alert issued seven minutes later.
The mother shared with the authorities that a man, now known as Ramirez, who she knew as "Benigno Alvarrez," could have possibly taken her child.
She told police he was "very fond of her son" and would often give them rides, bring him things, hug him, and take photos with him he would share on social media.
Investigators later received a tip from a restaurant at 8:51 p.m. on Thursday that an employee named Victor Ramirez Alvarez was seen with the boy matching the missing child in the AMBER Alert.
The restaurant gave police the employee's phone number, and it matched the one the mother had for the man she knew as "Benigo." She called him and told him the boy was missing, which he responded to with surprise saying that he was on his way back from California, according to the complaint.
Police then went to his residence, and while he and the child were not there, they found the clothing the boy was last seen wearing, the complaint said.
Then, at 11:14 p.m., Ramirez's truck, which was described to investigators by the mother, was seen by officers, and he was pulled over without the child present in the car.
At 11:47 p.m., a woman in Zion Township called 911 and reported that a boy was found in her garage alone and strapped into a booster seat. The boy was recovered by police and found to be unharmed.
Detectives interviewed Ramirez, and according to the complaint, he confessed to abducting the boy and later dropping him off at an empty garage of someone he knew.
Ramirez will now face up to 20 years in prison and be forced to pay a fine of $35,000 if convicted. He has also received an additional charge of "Depriving another of custodial or parental rights." That charge could land him a two-year sentence and a $4,000 fine.
His first court appearance is scheduled for March 24.
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