Investigators are searching for three men indicted in the kidnapping and killing of a Tracy man who was abducted from a Sikh temple more than six months ago, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.
Avtar Singh, 57, was taken Feb. 17 from the Gurdwara Gur Nanak Parkash, a Sikh temple on Grant Line Road on the outskirts of Tracy, authorities said. At the time, investigators with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said surveillance footage showed three unidentified individuals dressed in dark clothing forcing Singh into a white SUV.
Three days later, Singh’s body was discovered at Lake Berryessa in Napa County, just over 100 miles from Tracy. Napa County sheriff’s spokesman Henry Woffard said Singh was not killed in the area where his body was found.
Officials with the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office said Singh was strangled, and there was a “cement-like dust” covering his torso and hands along with small bruises and scrapes on his hands and forehead.
The attack on Singh appears to be a case of mistaken identity, authorities said.
“Mr. Singh was, in fact, not the intended target of the kidnapping,” sheriff’s Capt. Joe Petrino said during a news conference Wednesday. “Investigators identified the intended target as an individual who was in Canada at the time of the incident.”
On June 16, four months after Singh’s death, a grand jury indicted three men — Alberto Alencastro, 25; Alfonso Segura, 20; and Barnabe Segura, 22 — on murder and kidnapping charges. The Sheriff’s Office has now released photos of the suspects and is asking for the public’s help in locating them.
Singh had lived at the Tracy temple for more than 20 years, family previously told Stocktonia. Known as “Baba Bullet,” those at the gurdwara fondly remembered Singh as the head chef who prepared langar, a community meal in the Sikh faith.
“This man was taken from a place of worship in broad daylight because of a theft that had nothing to do with him,” Sheriff Patrick Withrow said Wednesday inside the Sheriff’s Office. “Think about that.”
Investigators say Singh’s death was tied to threats involving a person accused of stealing “valuable” cargo from the three men. Detectives said they later located the person, who has not been identified, in Canada.
Withrow said Flock license plate readers helped investigators locate the SUV that Singh was forced into at the gurdwara. The vehicle was found in Vallejo a day before Singh’s body was found, and the sheriff said evidence inside led authorities to focus their investigation on Alencastro and the Seguras.
The men are believed to have lived in the Solano County city and have ties to Mexico, Withrow said.
Members of the Tracy gurdwara also attended Wednesday’s news conference, sitting to the side as Withrow motioned toward images of Singh holding his 1-year-old triplets and standing over a cooking pot inside the temple’s kitchen.
“There is nothing we can do to give them their father back, but there is something that we all can do,” Withrow said. “And that is make damn sure that we do everything possible to hold the people responsible for this accountable.”
Withrow asked the public to contact law enforcement if they recognize the three men or know their whereabouts. He cautioned against approaching or attempting to apprehend the trio. Information can be provided anonymously through Stockton’s Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600.
“To Mr. Singh’s family: Once more, you have our word on this that we will not stop until we find these three individuals,” Withrow said. “But we can only do that with the help of our communities.”
In a phone call Wednesday, the gurdwara’s secretary, Deep Singh — who is not related to Avtar Singh — said the sheriff’s announcement wasn’t what he expected. He had anticipated an arrest when officials notified him and the wife of the slain man on Tuesday about the upcoming news conference. Singh, which translates to “lion” in Punjabi, is a common last name among Sikhs.
Although the investigation has taken longer than expected, Deep Singh said he still has “full trust” in investigators.
“They’re working hard on it,” he said. “It’s taking a little longer, yes, but they are working on it.”