ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — A federal grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging four Utahns with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
The indictment was announced through the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
The four defendants are Seraphine Warren, of Tooele; her husband Orlando Begay, of Salt Lake City; his sister Josephine Begay, of Gusher, Utah; and Begay’s husband, Nelton Alex Begay, of Gusher.
The indictment alleges that the four defendants removed the victim, referred to as John Doe in court documents, from his home in Arizona on March 29, 2021.
Prosecutors said they located the victim on Facebook and attacked him with paintball guns and “a blunt object” to the head, before handcuffing him in the back of a vehicle.
The four then transported him to New Mexico, where he was released near the city of Farmington on April 1, 2021, according to the indictment.
The announcement by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office does mention any alleged motive for the alleged kidnapping.
All 4 defendants are registered members of the Navajo Nation. The FBI investigated the case with the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Navajo Criminal Investigation Department.
In 2021, Warren organized a voluntary search for her aunt, Ella Mae Begay, who disappeared months after the abduction allegedly took place. Warren has also been involved in activism to raise awareness about missing Indigenous women.
It’s unclear if the kidnapping bears any resemblance to Begay’s disappearance.
According to the U. S. Attorney’s Office, if convicted, the defendants face “up to life in prison and five years of supervised release thereafter. “