Amber Alert issued for 6-year-old Modesto boy
MODESTO, Calif. (FOX 40) - A Modesto boy remains missing, abducted by his father in a violent confrontation.
Monday evening, an Amber Alert was issued for 6 year old Jayce Cosso, who authorities say was kidnapped by 41-year-old John Cosso.
The alert includes the Central Valley, and three Bay Area counties: Alameda, Santa Clara, and Contra Costa, because Cosso has past ties to the area.
By 10 p.m., Modesto Police released a photo of a woman, Renee Quijada, as a "person of interest", possibly an accomplice.
The home invasion abduction occurred at the household of Kimberly Valente, Jayce's mother.
She opened her door at about 7 am to a man claiming to be a utility worker.
"He had a badge, a fake uniform and everything but it didn`t feel right, he felt sketchy," said Kim Valente.
Out of the corner of her eye, Valente thought she spotted her ex-husband's car.
Then she was overpowered, and her door broken by a group of men who pepper sprayed everyone in her household.
"All this banging noise, and they all charged in and pepper sprayed me, my teenage son, and my sister," recounted Valente.
Cosso Is believed to be driving a 2012 black Ford Fusion.
Police believe Cosso was helped by five other people, male and female.
"I don`t think he's going to hurt Jayce. I don`t think he`s that stupid," said the child's grandfather Mike Valente.
Valente said Jayce was begging his father not to take him.
"Jayce was crying, saying, 'Dad, I don`t want to go with you,' because he doesn`t want to be with his father."
Kim Valente thought she might be able to escape with Jayce at first, racing to her car with him in her arms.
"I locked myself in my car, because mentally I prepared for this, rolled-up the windows, and backed-up but there was a car there."
Trapped, she said Cosso, assisted by his older son Dominic and another man, used metal tools to break car windows and grab the screaming youngster.
"And they got the doors open and he and his older son were pulling us apart," sobbed Valente, "and I was holding on, and I don't know who got him."
Modesto Police say they do not know if Cosso is inclined to harm his son.
"There is no reason to believe he will hurt his son," said Modesto Police PIO Sharon Bear, "but at the same time, this was a violent incident, from the forced entry to the way he took the boy from his mother."
Jayce's family also wants the public to know John Cosso's appearance differs from the photo on the Amber Alert.
His head is mostly shaved, and he has several tattoos on his face.
"He has a swirly one on one cheek, and love written in red on one cheek, and the ohm sign on his forehead, " said Jayce's aunt Vanessa Valente.
"He has a stripe of hair around the back of his head, but the rest is shaved," added Valente, "and he is not mentally well at all."
Jayce Cosso was last seen wearing a black transformers tee shirt and green camouflage shorts.
The day-long wait for the Amber Alert was unavoidable, police said, because CHP requires a license plate number.
It was not immediately available, so the crime was publicized in other ways, until the plate was confirmed.
Anyone with information about where Cosso or the boy might be is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636 or the non-emergency dispatch number at 209-552-2470.