Mercedes Salazar, 32, was said to be the instigator of the three- day captivity of a woman in a San Antonio home in Dallas City as per James Keith, spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Together with three other people, Salazar forced the woman to ingest drugs to be a part of a ‘blood ritual.’ Salazar is now facing charges that include aggravated kidnapping.
According to Keith, the woman was abducted last month and was forced to ingest drugs including heroin to perform a ceremony which was described as a blood ritual. She spent most of her captivity tied on a chair. The woman also said that the four allegedly performed witchcraft wherein they cut her hair and drew blood from her. Although it was not clear what they are trying to do in the ritual, Keith added, “We’re solely operating on what the victim told us.”
The name of the woman remains unidentified.
According to the victim's statement in a report by Yahoo News, when she was untied by one of her captors to use the bathroom and have a drink, he fell asleep. This gave the victim a chance to call her mother and seek for help.
When the deputies arrived to the scene, the woman screamed waking up the suspect. He then threatened her with knife and scissors but the deputies managed to disarm him before he could inflict injury to the victim.
The three alleged suspects were arrested and charged with a variety of crimes including aggravated kidnapping. But Salazar remained in hiding until last weekend taking her to police custody on Sunday.
Salazar has had a long list of criminal records since she was 17.
Romana Lopez, spokesperson of San Antonio police said, the victim once dated the brother of Salazar, Angel Salazar, before he was murdered last August 18 in San Antonio.
