The family of Geovani Salazar-President is aware of the public concern surrounding Tuesday’s event and has asked the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) to share the following statement.
“We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from our community, and the quick response by the Colorado Springs Police Department to quickly locate Geovani safe and sound. At this time, our family is fully cooperating and working closely with law enforcement to locate the suspect in this case. In the meantime, our sole focus is the health and well-being of our little boy. We are deeply grateful for all the support, concern, and well wishes that have been expressed.
While we understand the public curiosity and media requests around this incident, we respectfully ask for privacy during this difficult and emotional time. Continued media attention is only making this process more stressful and adding further strain on our family as we focus on healing.
As law enforcement conducts the investigation, they will share any updates, if and when appropriate, through official channels. We will not be speaking with the media.
Thank you for your understanding, compassion, and respect.”
-The family of Geovani Salazar-President
At this time, there are no updates to share publicly on the investigation and search for the suspect in this case. The investigation is ongoing, and we continue to process evidence gathered to develop suspect information.
This remains an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that can help is asked to contact the CSPD at 719-444-7000, or if you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Pikes Peak Crime Stoppers at 719-634-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-8477.
Previously Released Details
On Tuesday, January 20, at about 2:43 p.m., CSPD received a call for service regarding a kidnapping and a stolen 2021 black Kia Seltos from an apartment in the 2700 block of King Street. A 2-year-old child, Geovani Salazar-President, was in the back seat of the vehicle when it was stolen. As officers responded to the scene, the RTCC (Real Time Crime Center) immediately deployed resources, including the drone as a first responder (DFR) and monitoring CCTV cameras, red light cameras, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras, and live feeds from officers BWC’s to try to locate Giovani and the stolen Kia.
Officers from across nearly every division in the department responded to the call and immediately began investigating, interviewing witnesses, and searching the immediate area and the city. The RTCC was able to send a photo of Geovani to all responding officers, as well as an image obtained from an ALPR camera of the stolen Kia Seltos, revealing the vehicle’s last known location, helping officers focus their search efforts in real time.
Just before 5 p.m., officers from CSPD's Tactical Enforcement Unit, who were searching for the vehicle, came across the vehicle and found Geovani still in the back seat in his car seat and unharmed. The suspect had abandoned the vehicle and was no longer at that location. CSPD is continuing to investigate this incident, develop potential suspect information, and their possible whereabouts.
Anyone with information that can help with this investigation; to include anyone in the area of the 2700 block of King Street who may have home security video that captured anything unusual they are willing to share, is asked to contact CSPD at 719-444-7000.