La Quinta Clerk Instrumental In Missing Juvenile’s Safe Recovery
RED OAK – Last week, when a Carrollton girl’s mother Maria Romero Ramos, 45, was found dead and authorities learned her daughter was missing, a state-wide Amber alert went out to find the 10-year-old.
Red Oak Police Department and an observant hotel clerk at the Red Oak La Quinta’s quick actions resulted in the non-violent arrest of suspect Ronald Singer, 35.
The Carrollton Police credited the Red Oak Police Department for being “instrumental in taking [the] suspect into custody.”
When Red Oak Police found the girl in the hotel room, she was unharmed.
“We received the Amber alert as everyone else did,” Red Oak Police Chief Garland Wolf said. “Our response to the scene was because of one very locked on front counter associate for La Quinta who recognized the persons from the Amber Alert. She, in turn, notified the on-duty staff at La Quinta who called 911. Had it not been for the observant hotel clerk’s diligence and the intelligence they provided upon our arrival this could have turned out very different.”
Rescue Plan Was Advanced Due To Location of Suspect
Red Oak’s first responding officers gathered intelligence, called for back-up and confirmed positive identification of the vehicle and parties before moving in to determine the best course of action.
Wolf said “This situation required us to expand the scope of the response because it is in a hotel. It was now, not just the safety of the child in question, but other patrons, hotel staff and the first responders.”
He said his department quickly determined what room and floor the suspect was on. Then they determined the number of potential guests on that floor and in the building.
The Red Oak Police devised a plan to conduct a rescue of the juvenile if the situation turned violent. They did this by sectoring the floor and conducting surveillance on the room. Plus, calling on additional resources from the originating agency to include SWAT and Crisis Negotiators.
“We had specific rules of engagement to minimize exposure and threats to the officers on that floor should they encounter the suspect or the need to execute a rescue presented itself,” Wolf said.
Best Possible Outcome
Red Oak Police Officers observed the suspect leaving the hotel room and took him into custody without incident.
The juvenile female was found sleeping in a bed in the hotel room unharmed.
“When the suspect came out on his own accord, he was completely caught off-guard,” Wolf added. “This was the best possible outcome we could have hoped for given the nature of the Amber Alert. The juvenile child was recovered uninjured, the suspect in custody was uninjured. No force was needed, the other hotel guests and staff of the hotel were uninjured, no officers were injured nor was there any damage to the property.”
Singer, Ramos’ ex-husband, was charged with murder and transferred to the Denton County Jail. He is being held on a $1 million bond. He does not have a record of violent crime and investigators are trying to determine a motive.
