San Jose Police Department
A wild kidnapping case that gripped California in April just got even wilder—and it allegedly involves cut brake lines, duped lovers and four previous abduction attempts.
In April, police arrested two suspects who they say abducted three-month-old Brandon Cuellar from a San Jose apartment as the child’s grandmother unloaded groceries downstairs. It prompted a frantic manhunt and generated national headlines. Police said they recovered the baby 20 hours later in Jose Portillo’s home, and cell phone evidence allegedly linked his girlfriend, Yesenia Guadalupe Ramirez, to the crime as well.
On Tuesday, Portillo and Ramirez pleaded no contest to all eight charges against them, including kidnapping, but not before a slew of shocking new details came out about the case. The plea meant that, while they didn’t admit their guilt, they will not contest the allegations.