Gladys Remigio, a teenager from Santa Ana, California, who lied to her boyfriend about being pregnant, allegedly hatched an elaborate plan to kidnap her roommate’s two-week-old baby.
Gladys Remigio, 17, allegedly asked gang members Steven Quirino, 20, and Robert Rodriguez, 19, to steal the child.
The teenager then intended to ride with the men to her boyfriend’s, where she would pass the baby off as her own.
The newborn’s mother, identified only as Norma, told police that Gladys Remigio entered her bedroom with a man armed with a gun and ordered her into the bathroom while her other children slept.
Norma managed to escape when the two men fled the scene, and she found her baby outside with Gladys Remigio.
At first, the police thought that Gladys Remigio was also a victim of the robbery – until the story unraveled.
Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said:
“She’s engaged to a guy who thinks that she’s 8 months pregnant and working in New York City. But she’s not pregnant.
“Eight months into this lie, she’s living with these people who have a two-week old baby. So her master plan was to befriend these two hardcore gang members and have them rob the house.
“The deal was that she would pay them a little bit of cash and they could steal her iPhone and whatever else they could find in the house.”
Police believe the men did ransack the home, allegedly stealing a video game console.
“The deal was that the two gang members were going to put the baby in the back of the car and Remigio was going to drive to Chula Vista, where her boyfriend lives, and live happily ever after with her fiance and present the kidnapped baby as if she had a kid,” Anthony Bertagna said.
But the men left Gladys Remigio at the house with the baby and fled the scene.
Annoyed with the gang members for leaving her behind, Gladys Remigio told police one could be found at a nearby doughnut shop. The police tracked him down and he is now in custody.
Gladys Remigio then headed towards San Diego County, where she called her boyfriend’s mother and told her that people had kidnapped her, induced labour, and were holding her baby hostage for $10,000.
Gladys Remigio’s future mother-in-law called the police and reported the crime.
She then allegedly changed her story, telling authorities there was never a kidnapping, but that she gave birth to a still born and threw the baby in a trash can.
The police immediately called in child abuse detectives, and they searched dumpsters for the body throughout the night.
When detectives couldn’t find a foetus, they re-interviewed Gladys Remigio, who allegedly admitted she had been lying the whole time.
“She said she thought she was pregnant at one point but she wasn’t, and she wanted to keep her fiance,” Anthony Bertagna said.
The third suspect was found the following day and taken into custody.
If convicted on all charges Steven Quirino, Robert Rodriguez and Gladys Remigio face a maximum sentence of life in state prison.
