Published Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008 | 2:16 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008 | 5:09 p.m.
Jose Lopez-Buelna
Cole Puffinburger
Sun coverage
- Oct. 22 -- The other outrage in kidnapping case
- Oct. 22 -- Las Vegas resident in kidnapping case held, bail set
- Oct. 20 -- Police make second arrest stemming from boy’s abduction
- Oct. 18 -- Teachers tread lightly discussing classmate’s disappearance
- Oct. 18 -- Kidnapped boy found unharmed
- Oct. 16 -- Police: Grandfather might lead them to kidnapped boy
- Oct. 16 -- Kidnapping leaves behind neighborhood of fear
- Oct. 16 -- Police: Boy’s kidnapping linked to drug activity
- Oct. 16 -- Latest kidnapping a reminder of unsolved 1978 abduction
A judge ordered a Las Vegas man arrested as a "person of interest" in the kidnapping a 6-year-old boy freed today after prosecutors didn't file charges against the man.
Police said Jose Lopez-Buelna had been linked to the abduction of Cole Puffinburger, who was missing for four days before a bus driver found him Oct. 18 wandering nighttime streets near Oakey Drive and 17th Street.
Lopez-Buelna has been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, who can hold him up to 72 hours for a deportation hearing. Police have said he is an illegal immigrant who was deported to Mexico in 2003.
Metro Police served a search warrant at the Macadamia Drive address where Lopez-Buelna lived. The home's inventory included eight guns, ammunition, cell phones, computers, and a pair of black Vans tennis shoes -- a pair of which were worn by Cole at the time of his kidnapping.
Police and prosecutors didn't say how Lopez-Buelna's release affects the investigation of Cole's kidnapping, which police suspect might have been due to the boy's maternal grandfather dealing in drugs.
No suspects have been named in the kidnapping case.
Police are still investigating the kidnapping after two or three Hispanic men identifying themselves as police officers knocked on the front door of Cole's home. His mother opened the door and the men stormed into the house. They took Cole at gunpoint after tying up the boy's mother and her boyfriend and ransacking the house, police said.
Two other people linked to the investigation have been arrested. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said 42-year-old Terri Leavy was taken into custody by Fontana, Calif., police. Leavy is believed to be the companion of 51-year-old Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer Jr., Cole's maternal grandfather. He was arrested in Riverside, Calif.
Both Leavy and Tinnemeyer were arrested on federal material warrants.
Police are still searching for a fourth man, Jesus Gastelum, who sometimes goes by the name Ferdinand Gastelum. Gastelum is a Mexican national and is described as being 5-foot-9, weighing 185 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.
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