Just a day before the bodies of a missing California family were found, police had taken into custody a person of interest identified as Jesus Manuel Sagaldo.

The 48-year-old was suspected of kidnapping the four members of a family, including an 8-month-old child, at gunpoint. The victims have been identified as Jasleen Kaur, 27, her husband, Jasdeep Singh, 36, their eight-month-old child, Aroohi Dheri, and Singh’s brother, Amandeep Singh, 39, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office announced.

Also Read | 4 family members kidnapped at gunpoint in California found dead

On Wednesday, police said that Salgado is hospitalized in critical condition after attempting to kill himself before he was taken into custody. As he turned violent at the hospital, the staff was forced to sedate him.

Who is Jesus Manuel Salgado?

Salgado was found after investigators said he used one of the victim’s bank cards at an ATM in Atwater, California. Authorities said that he may have been financially motivated, but the motive behind the killing remains. 

Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said Salgado has a previous conviction for robbery, dating back to 2005. He was sentenced to prison and released on parole in 2015.

“That person right now is our sole lead,” the sheriff said Wednesday, adding that at least one other person is believed to have been connected to the case.

Also Read | Selah Marley reacts to Kanye’s ‘White Lives Matter’ sweatshirt backlash

“Until we get some kind of conversation going with the suspect, we are not 100 percent,” Warnke said of Salgado. “I fully believe that there was one other person involved. We don’t have any evidence to support that. It’s just the circumstances surrounding this.”

California Highway Patrol troopers discovered Singh’s 2020 black Dodge Ram pickup truck on fire in Winton on Monday.

The sheriff’s office initially said a person captured in surveillance footage was seen making a transaction at the bank matched the appearance of a suspect seen in surveillance footage at the kidnapping scene.