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Updated: $25K reward tip led to fugitive Northridge kidnapping suspect Tobias Summers, now on way to U.S.
The LAPD says kidnapping suspect Tobias Dustin Summers has a lengthy criminal record.
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Updated: $25K reward tip led to fugitive Northridge kidnapping suspect Tobias Summers, now on way to U.S.
UPDATE 12:59 p.m.: A $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Tobias Summers prompted someone to call police with information on the suspect’s location, which led to his capture in Mexico, officials said at a news conference Wednesday.
The 30-year-old is a fugitive charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Northridge girl.
Summers was apprehended at about 8 a.m. in the Mexican border state of Baja California. He has already crossed the border back into the U.S. and is en route to Los Angeles, where he is expected to be held in lieu of $19 million bail, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said.
"Truly a collaboration,” said Beck said about the work of his officers and the FBI in catching Summers. “We will hunt you. We will find you. You cannot hide."
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The chief said the girl's family is relieved that Summers is in custody: "The family is very relieved, I'll leave it at that.”
Beck also said that the impact of the alleged crimes will be felt by the victim for a long time.
"We can never make whole again the life of this girl," the chief said.
They are continuing to investigate whether Summers had any help in leaving the country, but at this point, they know of no one.
The FBI had 80 agents out when the girl went missing, said Tim Delaney, the special agent in charge. It scaled back its work on the case when she turned up, but agents remained involved with the case.
PREVIOUSLY: The FBI says a fugitive charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Northridge girl has been captured in Mexico.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says Tobias Summers, 30, was taken into custody by Mexican authorities acting on information from the FBI.
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The victim vanished from her home in the Northridge area of Los Angeles on March 27. She was found about 12 hours later and several miles away.
Authorities later arrested Daniel Martinez, 29, as a suspected accomplice and revealed that Summers had been spotted in a video recording as he crossed the border into Mexico at Tecate, east of San Diego. The LAPD did not disclose when the video was recorded. It previously said that they believed the kidnapping suspect was in San Diego.
RELATED: LAPD Chief Beck: Video shows Northridge kidnapping suspect crossing into Tecate, Mexico (Map)
Summers is charged with kidnapping, burglary and nearly three dozen counts of sexual assault.
“We assume that [Summers] is hunkered down hiding someplace, and we need the public to be aware of what he looks like and what he’s done, so we can get cooperation,” Beck said at the time.
Martinez has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and burglary.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
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