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‘Our worst fears’: Kidnapped baby, parents, uncle found dead in California

Images are displayed of 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri, left, with her mother Jasleen Kaur, her father Jasdeep Singh, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, at a news conference in Merced, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Sheriff Vern Warnke, of Merced County, announced Wednesday that the family members, who were kidnapped at gunpoint from their trucking business in central California, have been found dead. (Andrew Kuhn/The Merced Sun-Star via AP)
Images are displayed of 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri, left, with her mother Jasleen Kaur, her father Jasdeep Singh, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, at a news conference in Merced, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Sheriff Vern Warnke, of Merced County, announced Wednesday that the family members, who were kidnapped at gunpoint from their trucking business in central California, have been found dead. (Andrew Kuhn/The Merced Sun-Star via AP) Images are displayed of 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri, left, with her mother Jasleen Kaur, her father Jasdeep Singh, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, at a news conference in Merced, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Sheriff Vern Warnke, of Merced County, announced Wednesday that the family members, who were kidnapped at gunpoint from their trucking business in central California, have been found dead. (Andrew Kuhn/The Merced Sun-Star via AP)

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and STEFANIE DAZIO / Associated Press 5 min read

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A baby girl, her parents and uncle were found dead in a central California orchard two days after they were kidnapped at gunpoint from their business, police said.

“Our worst fears have been confirmed,” Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said at a Wednesday night news conference.

Warnke said the victims were close to each other when found by a farm worker tending to an almond orchard in a remote area near the town of Dos Palos, about 20 miles south of Merced where the family was kidnapped on Monday.

He said he believed the family was killed before their relatives reported them missing Monday.

The grim announcement came after authorities earlier Wednesday released surveillance video of a man kidnapping 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri; her mother Jasleen Kaur, 27; father Jasdeep Singh, 36; and uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, on Monday.