One of the three men indicted in the kidnapping and killing of Tracy gurdwara volunteer Avtar Singh has been arrested in Mexico and brought back to San Joaquin County, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office announced on Saturday, November 7. Alberto Alonso Alencastro, 25, of Vallejo, was arrested in Mexico in coordination with Mexican authorities and has since been extradited and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail, officials said.

Source: KION Central Coast

Singh, 57, was abducted in the middle of the day on February 17 from the Gurdwara Gur Nanak Parkash in Tracy, in the 16000 block of West Grant Line Road, according to the sheriff's office. Surveillance video showed three men forcing Singh into a white SUV outside the temple, officials said. His disappearance was not reported until later that evening.

Three days later, on February 20, Singh's body was found in a remote area near Lake Berryessa in Napa County, more than 100 miles from Tracy, after the Napa County Sheriff's Office received a report of a body in the area, according to earlier sheriff's office statements.

A case of mistaken identity

Investigators say Singh was never the intended target. Sheriff Patrick Withrow has said the kidnapping stemmed from a dispute over a stolen cargo trailer — “This was about a theft of cargo,” Withrow said — and the man the suspects were allegedly hunting was in Canada at the time of the abduction, Capt. Joe Petrino said. On October 1, the sheriff's office publicly confirmed that investigators had determined Singh was not the intended target of the abduction and killing.

Singh lived at the gurdwara with his wife and served as a volunteer and cook at the temple. He was married and the father of triplets who were under the age of one when he was killed, a spokesperson for the Tracy Gurdwara said. Sheriff Pat Withrow described him as a father and a member of the community who was taken from a place of worship in broad daylight.

How investigators built the case

The case was developed through surveillance footage and Flock automated license-plate reader cameras, the sheriff's office said. The technology identified the suspect vehicle, and deputies seized the white SUV in Vallejo on February 19, two days after the abduction. Detectives later served multiple search warrants in Vallejo as the investigation continued over several months.

A San Joaquin County grand jury indicted all three Vallejo men on charges including murder with special circumstances and kidnapping. District Attorney Ron Freitas has said that if convicted, each man could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. The charges are allegations in an indictment; all three men are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

Two suspects still at large

The other two indicted suspects — Alfonso Cresencio Segura Arellano, 20, and Barnabe Antonio Segura Arellano, 22, both of Vallejo — have not been taken into custody, the sheriff's office said Saturday. Investigators have said the men have ties to Mexico, were last confirmed in Vallejo, and should be considered armed and dangerous; authorities warn the public not to approach them. The Sikh community is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to their arrests.

For the Punjabi and Sikh community of Tracy, Stockton and the wider Central Valley — one of the largest Sikh communities in the United States — the case has been followed closely since February, because a sewadar was taken from a gurdwara in broad daylight. Saturday's arrest is the first time one of the three indicted men has been brought into custody, more than eight months after the killing.