Parolee Doubted as Kidnap Suspect

A 48-year-old parolee who was arrested Sunday in the kidnaping of a 6-year-old Santa Ana girl has been virtually ruled out as the suspect in a series of eight attempted child kidnapings in Los Angeles County, according to police in three of the four cities involved.

While Hawthorne police have not made a final determination, authorities in Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Pico Rivera said child witnesses reviewed photographs of the suspect, Eduardo Uzcanga, and none identified him as the man who tried to lure them into his blue pickup by telling them their parents had been injured.

“By looking at the photographs, it was a very strong negative,” said Redondo Beach Lt. John Nelson. “We’re not going to just close the book on this guy, but we’re going to have to speed up in some other areas to try to find the right person.”

All the Los Angeles County kidnaping attempts, which occurred between Sept. 13 and Sept. 28, involved a dark-haired man with a mustache who drove up to children in a blue vehicle, often described as a foreign-made, compact blue pickup with a white camper shell.

Uzcanga also drove a blue pickup with a white camper shell, but that vehicle is a full-sized Chevrolet. Also, Uzcanga is considerably older than the Los Angeles Couny suspect, who is described as being in his 30s.