4 family members taken from California business found dead, sheriff says.

Four family members, including an infant He was kidnapped on Monday morning A man was found dead after leaving a business in central California’s Merced County, authorities announced Wednesday night. The victims were found on a remote farm in Merced County.

At a news briefing, Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke said the bodies of the four victims were found by a farm worker “in the course of his duties” around 5:30 p.m. local time.

Warnke added that the victims “were found relatively close together.” He did not say if investigators have determined the cause of death.

The sheriff emphasized that the victims were found “in a very rural area, not many people come out here.”

Early Monday morning, the victims — a baby girl, her parents and her uncle — were taken hostage from a Merced County business. 8-month-old Arohi Dhri, her mother, 27-year-old Jaslin Kaur, her father, 36-year-old Jasdeep Singh, and her uncle, 39-year-old Amandeep Singh, have been identified.

on tuesday, A person of interest in the abduction already taken. Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, was arrested, the sheriff’s office said.

Salgado tried to kill himself before being arrested, the sheriff’s office said. He was hospitalized in critical condition.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, before the bodies were found, sheriff’s officials Released surveillance footage He said this shows the victims being escorted out of the business by an armed man.

The video shows the man walking out of the building with Jasdeep and Amandeep, both zip-tied by their arms, and placed in the back of a pickup truck. The car leaves, but returns six minutes later. The suspect goes back inside and soon leaves with Ur and her daughter Arohi Dhri.

There is no word yet on a motive for the kidnapping or a possible relationship between Salgado and the victims. Warnke Salgado was convicted of theft in 2005. Salgado was paroled in 2015 and has had no contact with law enforcement since then, Warnke said.

Warnke said Salgado had not been able to meet with investigators as of Wednesday morning. No criminal charges have yet been filed in the case.

The investigation began when a pickup truck registered to Amandep was found burned Monday morning on a rural road in Winton, a few miles north of Merced, the sheriff’s office said.

California Highway Patrol officers attempted to locate Amandeep, and when unable to do so, reached a family member, who was unable to locate Amandeep. Finally, a family member reported all four missing. By Monday afternoon, sheriff’s detectives had identified the four hostages from the business.

— Victoria Albert contributed to this report.