SAN ANTONIO – Relatives of Isaura Smithhart, 41, a woman who San Antonio police said was kidnapped by Osvaldo Valdez, 40, said they are relieved to have her back home and the suspect in jail.
"She has some scratches and she's a little confused right now, but she's OK,” Smithhart's brother Sergio Diaz said outside the family’s South Bexar County home Wednesday morning.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Smithhart told police that her ex-boyfriend, Valdez, forced her into his truck at knifepoint Tuesday morning, then drove around with her for hours while trying to convince her to take him back.
Police got involved in the case when a passing driver noticed Smithhart’s silver Jeep Cherokee stopped in the middle of a South Side street, in the 100 block of Boris Street. The SUV had a broken driver’s side window.
The affidavit said that investigators then contacted Smithhart’s family and found out that she had recently broken up with Valdez. But relatives said he did not handle the news well.
They told police that Smithhart said she feared he might kill her and that lately she felt as though Valdez was following her, the affidavit said.
Detectives launched a search for Smithhart that lasted most of Tuesday. They also issued an appeal through the media, looking for information on Valdez’s whereabouts.
Police later found his pickup abandoned on some private property near Somerset.
The affidavit said that police later received a call from someone telling them that Smithhart and Valdez had turned up at a home in the 1700 block of Point West Street.
"They did a great job and they worked really hard. I mean, you could see them everywhere,” said Diaz, who now has nothing but praise for police.
Although early on police were calling Valdez a person of interest in the case, that changed around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday when police arrested him on a charge of aggravated kidnapping.
Based on details in the affidavit that KSAT 12 News is not disclosing, it appears additional charges could be filed against him later.
"I guess, I hope he gets what he deserves,” Diaz said.