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Woman Sought In Winter Garden Kidnapping

Detectives are hunting for the fourth suspect who they say helped kidnap a Winter Garden family and hold them captive for three days. So far, three suspects have been caught and are in the Orange County jail.

Police say the fourth suspect is a woman. They say the woman may have been the reason one of the victims was shot in the back. That female suspect is the one who apparently told her accomplices they needed to kill the woman because she saw her face.


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A family friend told Eyewitness News the victim was going in for another surgery after getting shot in the back. As for the female suspect, she's still on the run, possibly armed, and with thousands of dollars that belong to the victims.

When Winter Garden police walked out 19-year-old Oscar Diaz-Hernandez Thursday, they appeared to be closing in on the criminal team that terrorized a family inside their home in the Lake Roberts Landing neighborhood (see map). The 19-year-old from Honduras faced a judge for the first time Thursday and was denied bond. He now joins two other suspects, Victor Sanchez Santiz and Miguel Diaz Santiz from Mexico, who are all accused of home invasion, kidnapping and attempted murder.

Investigators say the ordeal started on Sunday with a man, woman and their 5-year-old son held at gunpoint. One of the suspects forced the mother, Marcela Borges to withdraw more than $23,000 from a Bank of America in Ocoee. The plan fell apart on Tuesday when Borges jumped from a window of the house and was shot while running to a neighbor's house.

But 48 hours later, Winter Garden police won't say what they're doing to try to find a fourth female suspect or how she might have known the victims.

“She is part of the group that tormented this family, regardless of if there is a connection or not, this should not have to happen to anyone,” Lt. Keith Ralston of the Winter Garden Police Department said.

Immigration officials placed special holds on the three suspects who are already locked up. All of them seemed to be living together at a house in Apopka. Eyewitness News couldn't reach the owner of the home where the three were renting from to find out whether he knew what his tenants were up to.

Police believe the suspects knew their victims.

Now, police say, they'll continue the search for anyone else who might have been involved. Like the others, the federal government also has an immigration hold on Diaz-Hernandez, which means he's likely in the country illegally, but he'll still have to face the serious charges before he's handed over to immigration officials.

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