The alleged kidnapping of Justin Quinones, 2, and Jacob Quinones, 4, in the presence of their mother in Anaheim was "a parental abduction" carried out by the boys' biological father and paternal grandfather, police said Friday morning.
Abraham Fernandez, 23, and his father, Louis Mendoza Fernandez, 52, are both believed to be residents of Houston, Texas, Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said.
As of 4:30 a.m., there was no sign of the boys, the suspects, or the recent-model Dodge Caravan van they were last seen in Thursday night. The Amber Alert search remained in affect across Southern California, Dunn said.
"We don't know the whereabouts of the children and we're very concerned," Dunn told City News Service.
Dunn said a motive had not yet been identified for the alleged abduction.
The alleged abduction occurred about 7:50 p.m. in the 3300 block of West Orange Avenue in Anaheim, when Justin and Jacob were walking with their mother outside their apartment complex to empty the trash, Dunn said.
A Dodge Caravan pulled up and two white or light-skinned Latino men jumped out, authorities said.
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Each man grabbed a boy and got back in the van, and the boys' mother may have kicked one side of the van as it sped away, Dunn said.
Justin and Jacob were both wearing Buzz Lightyear T-shirts and beige shorts, and Jacob was also wearing a gray zippered sweatshirt, Dunn said.
Justin is 2 feet, 6 inches tall, 38 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Jacob is 3 feet tall, 62 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
One of the men, now believed to be Abraham Fernandez, was described as white or light-skinned, with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, gray eyes, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, about 160 pounds, with a mustache and maybe a goatee, wearing a black shirt, and jeans of no specific color, Dunn said.
The other man, now believed to be Louis Mendoza Fernandez, was described as white or light-skinned, stocky with a gut, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, about 175 pounds, longer straight or scraggly brown hair under a dark-colored baseball cap, brown eyes, wearing light-colored shorts and white tennis shoes, Dunn said.
The van was described as a 2009 or 2010 Caravan, silver, gray or pewter in color, with a possible dent or damage to a right-side passenger door where the boys' mother may have kicked the fleeing vehicle, Anaheim police said. The van may also have tinted windows.
Descriptions of the alleged child abduction were being flashed on freeway signs across Southern California late Thursday and early today, California Highway Patrol dispatchers said.
About 10:15 p.m. Thursday in San Dimas, deputies stopped a gray Dodge van with a dent on a passenger door near Arrow Highway and the Orange (57) Freeway but there were no children in the van, a news video cameraman reported.
Deputies took down the driver's information before letting him go.
Anyone with information about Justin and Jacob, their alleged abductors, or the recent-model Dodge Caravan was urged to call Anaheim police 714-765-1900.
