Teen uses Snapchat to escape kidnappers at San Jose motel, police say

From left to right: Albert Thomas Vasquez, Antonio Quirino Salvador, and Hediberto Gonzalez Avarenga. From left to right: Albert Thomas Vasquez, Antonio Quirino Salvador, and Hediberto Gonzalez Avarenga. Photo: San Jose Police Department Photo: San Jose Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Teen uses Snapchat to escape kidnappers at San Jose motel, police say 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 14-year-old girl was kidnapped and brought to a San Jose motel, but police said the teen used the social media app Snapchat to free herself from the kidnappers.

The San Jose Police Department said in a news release that the 14-year-old, whose name was withheld, encountered 55-year-old Albert Thomas Vasquez in Capitola on Tuesday. Vasquez allegedly "gave the victim drugs," and with the assistance of 34-year-old Antonio Quirino Salvador and 31-year-old Hediberto Gonzalez Avarenga, put the incapacitated victim in a vehicle against her will.

Police said Vasquez sexually abused the victim in the vehicle, and the group brought her to an E-Z 8 Motel in San Jose. Upon arrival, police said Vasquez, Salvador and Avarenga brought the girl to a room where Vasquez again sexually assaulted her.

From there, the teen used her Snapchat account (police did not specify if she used her own cell phone or a different cell phone) to notify her friends that she had been kidnapped, but did not know her location. Her friends then used Snapchat's location features to determine where she was, and called 911 once they obtained her location.

When police arrived at the motel, they found only Vasquez and the victim. Vasquez was arrested and charged with kidnapping to commit rape, digital penetration with a child under 14 years with force, false imprisonment, lewd act with a child 14 or 15 years with force, and rape by intoxication or controlled substance, all of which are felonies. He was subsequently booked into the Santa Clara County Jail.

Salvador and Avarenga were later arrested on Wednesday and charged with felony kidnapping and conspiracy.

Anyone with information about this case or similar incidents involving the three suspects is encouraged to contact the San Jose Police Department’s Sexual Assault Investigations Unit at 408-277-4102.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting