Text Message Helps Save Kidnapped Man

A text message and a calm dispatcher helped Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office deputies locate a 28-year-old man who was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced inside the trunk of his car.

FOX 26 has obtained the 911 call that helped lead deputies to the victim and two teenage suspects.

The victim, who moved to the Houston area from Taiwan two years ago, asked not to be identified because he fears for his safety.

Around 7:50 p.m. on Christmas, the man was leaving his apartment in the 10500 block of Fountain Lake Drive in Stafford to go to a friend's house.

He says two men with a gun demanded money. The victim says he offered the suspects his wallet and his car, but they wanted him to withdraw more money.

The suspects, identified as Jeremy Baguero, 17, and his 16-year-old brother forced the victim into the trunk of his 2009 Toyota Corolla.

"I was thinking, 'Should I make an international call to my parents and tell them goodbye?'"

Instead, from inside the trunk of his car, the man sent a text message to his friend.

"Just said, 'Robbed, please call 911.'"

The friend called 911, and the dispatcher was able to reach the victim on his cell phone while he was still trapped in the trunk.

The victim can be heard saying, "I'm locked in the trunk."

The dispatcher then asks, "You're locked in the trunk?"

The victim replies, "Yeah, yeah, they locked me in the trunk. I can not speak too loud."

Most of the rest of the tape is inaudible. At times the suspects are heard speaking loudly in the background. The victim told the dispatcher they were headed to a nearby bank.

Despite difficulty hearing and understanding him, the dispatcher figured out they were headed to an ATM on Highway 6. Patrol deputies arrived just as the suspects were forcing the victim to withdraw $300.

On the tape, the suspects can be heard demanding $800, but the victim tells them they are only allowed to take $300. Deputies took the two teens into custody without incident.

"The reason these two suspects gave for doing the robbery and kidnapping is they didn't get anything for Christmas, and they wanted to go get their money for Christmas," said David McKinnon, a detective with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.

Baguero is in the Fort Bend County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He was on probation for another robbery he committed as a juvenile. Baguero's younger brother is in the custody of Fort Bend County Juvenile Probation.