TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video aired in March 2024.
Two men accused of kidnapping a Tyler man and demanding $10,000 from his family in March have been indicted.
Julio Cordova, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Walybert Cordova-Rascon, of Straburg, Colorado, have been formally charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom/reward following a grand jury handing down an indictment on June 20.
Arrest affidavits said Cordova and Cordova-Rascon pulled into the victim's driveway, put a gun to his head and forced him into their car on March 17. His sons followed the suspects' red Honda car to donut shop, where they were told to leave and shown guns as a threat. Cordova and Cordova-Rascon also told the victim's sons they wanted $10,000 for their father's return.
Law enforcement used the victim's phone to track the vehicle and learned it was near the Fort Worth/Arlington area. Cordova and Cordova-Rascon told the man's wife to start heading toward the Dallas-Fort Worth area and they would give her a location once she was close, according to the affidavit.
The Fort Worth Police Department was notified that the most recent ping showed the suspects' car to be a gas station. Fort Worth officers found the Honda and the victim was located in the backseat. Both Cordova and Cordova-Rascon, who were found in possession of two guns, were detained and later arrested, the affidavit said.
The victim told police the suspects told him to get into the car or they would shoot him and his family. The man got into the car to protect his family, according to the affidavit.
The man said he didn't know the suspects or why they would take him. Both Cordova and Cordova-Rascon denied kidnapping the man, while Cordova-Rascon told police that another man told them where the victim lived and he owed someone money, the document stated.
Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said after the arrests, the investigation showed that the suspects could be either members of a cartel or working for a cartel.