Las Vegas resident in kidnapping case held, bail set

By Mary Manning (contact)

Published Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 10:55 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:35 p.m.

Las Vegas Metro Police photo

Jose Lopez-Buelna

Prosecutors have a week to file charges against a convicted drug trafficker arrested by police last week as a "person of interest" in the kidnapping of 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger, a judge said Wednesday.

The 48-year-old Las Vegas man, Jose Lopez-Buelna, arrested under a search warrant early Saturday morning and linked to last week's child kidnapping, made an initial appearance in court Wednesday.

North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl ruled that there was probable cause to keep Lopez-Buelna on suspicion of a felony weapons violation. He set bail at $10,000 on the charge.

Lopez-Buelna appeared via video from jail and was not represented by a lawyer.

His next court appearance for a status check has been set for Oct. 29.

Lopez-Buelna has a criminal record in California, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.

Under the name Jose Lopez, he was arrested in Barstow, Calif., on Feb. 8, 1997 on charges of drug possession and transportation charges. On May 14 that same year he pled guilty to possession and was sentenced to two years in California state prison.

Federal officials deported Lopez-Buelna to Mexico in 2003.

Lopez-Buelna was arrested in Las Vegas late Friday for possessing a firearm by a prohibited person, Metro Police said. They did not release details on Lopez-Buelna's connection to the kidnapping of Cole Puffinburger, who was snatched at gunpoint from his mother's home on Oct. 15 and found alive and well on Saturday night.

Police are still investigating the 6-year-old's kidnapping that may be linked to his maternal grandfather's ties to drug dealers and millions of dollars.

Police said that two and possibly three Hispanic men identifying themselves as police officers knocked on Cole's front door. The mother opened the door and two men forced their way into the home on Cherry Grove Avenue.

After ransacking the house and tying up the mother and her boyfriend, the men took Cole with them. An Amber Alert was issued although authorities had no vehicle description for the robbery and kidnapping suspects.

Two other people linked to the investigation were arrested over the weekend. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Monday that 42-year-old Terri Leavy was taken into custody by Fontana, Calif., police on Sunday. Leavy is believed to be the companion of 51-year-old Clemens Tinnemeyer, the maternal grandfather of Cole, who was arrested Friday night in Riverside, Calif.

Both Leavy and Tinnemeyer were arrested on federal material witness warrants.

Another man police are searching for in both Nevada and California Jesus Gastelum, who sometimes goes by the name Ferdinand Gastelum, Metro Police Capt. Vincent Cannito said.

Gastelum is a Mexican national and is described as being 5-foot-9 and weighing 185 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.