Family mourns deadly Merced County kidnapping of four people two years later

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — A Merced County family is still grieving the loss of their loved ones as Thursday marks two years since Aroohi Dheri, Jasdeep Singh, Jasleen Kaur and Amandeep Singh died in a frightening kidnapping at the hands of Jesus Salgado, according to prosecutors.

“He pulled out his gun and walked through that door that everyone saw,” family member Sukhdeep Dheri told Action News.

Surveillance cameras captured the tragedy as it unfolded outside the family business. Now the family is showing the inside to the public for the first time.

“There were two desks here, office tables,” Dheri said. “Both Jasdeep and Amandeep, they were sitting here. And Jasleen, she did some dishes in the sink.”

Action News saw the exact location where the victims were working on the morning of October 3, 2022. It was a happy time in her life, family members say. They had opened the new truck yard a week earlier.

Salgado was a former employee.

“He kidnapped her at gunpoint and took her away from here,” said Amandeep Singh’s wife Jaspreet Kaur.

Surveillance video captured what happened next. It appears to show Salgado leading Jasdeep and Amandeep through the back door with their hands tied.

“That’s the door they went through,” Dheri said. “This is the door he took from them.”

According to investigators, Salgado took the family of four to an almond orchard near Dos Palos and killed them. Salgado pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder and other charges.

“We’re not giving up,” Kaur said. “We won’t stop. We demand justice.”

Court records show Salgado is next due in court for a hearing on Oct. 14.

A judge has already sentenced his brother Alberto Salgado to three years and eight months in prison for aiding and abetting the crime.

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