(Editor’s Note: The following information was comprised from a release from the Pope County Sheriff’s Dept. and other sources).

Victor Ramirez Alvarez, 22, of Big Lake, appeared in District Court on Monday on felony charges of kidnapping and depriving custodial and parental rights. He is accused of abducting a 2-year-old boy from a rural Pope County home as members of the family slept.

The Pope County Sheriffs Office identified Alvarez (also known as Benigno Alvarez-Gutierrez) early Friday morning for the abduction of the child that triggered an AMBER Alert on March 17. 

Acting on information developed through the investigation, Ramirez was arrested by Big Lake police officers outside of his home shortly after 11 p.m. on March 17 following a brief struggle. Investigators located the child after receiving a 911 call that the child was in the garage of the caller’s Paynesville residence. The child was taken to St. Cloud Hospital for evaluation and is currently in the custody of his mother. 

According to a criminal complaint filed Monday, the mother of the child said Alvarez “was very fond of her son.” The defendant would frequently give the mother and child rides, “hug her son, buy him things, and take photos with him,” according to the complaint.

She discovered her child was missing when she returned home from work after 2 a.m. Thursday, March 17, and sometime later, headed to her bedroom to sleep. Her son was not in the bedroom. He had been in the care of family members, and they reported putting him to bed in the room that he shared with his mother at 8 p.m.

While searching for the child, family members found a note written in both English and Spanish asking for forgiveness for taking the child and indicating a prior plan to do so.

Sheriff’s deputies responding to the home found what appeared to be footprints outside of the child’s bedroom. A canine brought to the scene was alerted to the child’s scent, and followed it down the driver and on a roadway before it was lost.

An Amber Alert was issued at 4:36 p.m. Thursday. The child’s father and his family were interviewed and determined to have no involvement in the abduction, according to the complaint.

After issuing the Amber Alert, authorities received a tip from the manager of an unnamed restaurant where the defendant worked. Employees had seen the defendant with a child that appeared to be the child in the Amber Alert at 8:15 p.m. Thursday.

During the investigation, the complaint alleges that Alvarez texted and called the child’s mother and spoke to her on speakerphone as investigators listened. He claimed to be surprised by the kidnapping and said that he was driving back from California. He made no mention that he knew of the child’s whereabouts.

Law officers went to the defendant’s residence and found clothing that the child was last seen wearing, but not the child.

At 11:14 p.m. Thursday, Alvarez was stopped while driving and taken into custody, but the child was not with him.

At 11:47 p.m. Thursday, an officer responded to the call from the couple who discovered the child in a booster-style seat in their garage.

During an interview with law enforcement, Alvarez allegedly admitted that he had taken the child from the residence. “He admitted that he dropped the child off in an empty garage at a residence of someone he knew, but stated that no one was home,” according to the complaint.

The residents had not been alerted to the child’s presence in the garage.

The charge of kidnapping — to facilitate felony or flight — filed against Alvarez carries a possible prison sentence of 20 years and or a $35,000 fine. The charge of depriving another of custodial or parental rights carries a possible prison sentence of up to two years or a $4,000 fine.

Bail was set at $1 million without conditions and $500,000 with conditions

The Pope County Sheriffs Office has been assisted in its investigation by Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, West Central Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, Glenwood Police Department, Starbuck Police Department, FBI, Douglas County Sheriffs Office, Stearns County Sheriffs Office, Big Lake Police Department and Alexandria Police Department.