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 Juan Mercado 38 years old

 Male From the USA 

 Charges: Kidnapping Guilty Assault of police officer Guilty 2 years in prison 1 year in prison _____________________________________________ _ 

 “Juan, we want to know why you were there,” I started, leaning over the table. “Do you know who tied you up?” “No, I... I was only there because I was told to meet up with someone,” he stammered. “Told by who?” Richard asked softly from the corner. “Jake, a drug dealer from around the area. I'm from two roads down the hill. Look, I have a wife and kids, I—” The man started stuttering incredibly fast, his breathing shallow and nervous. “Ok,” I said, writing the name down in my notebook. “Jake, is it? Did he mention something strange to you, or was he acting strangely?” I pressed, needing every piece of information I could get. “Yeah, he was bragging about a kidnap, and I told him straight up that I wasn't gonna get involved, you feel me? I already did my years in prison, I'm clean. I'm starting over new, man!” He started whimpering, his eyes welling up as he practically begged us to believe him. Richard leaned over, lowering his voice right next to my ear. “Can we talk in private?” “Yeah.” We stepped out, closing the heavy door behind us. Through the double-sided mirror, we could see Juan slumped over, his hands clasped together. “I don't think he has anything to do with all this,” Richard said, crossing his arms. “Yeah, me neither,” I responded. The both of us tilted our heads, watching Juan through the glass as he began to pray silently. Satisfied, we re-entered the room to inform him that he was officially off the suspect list. We told him to contact us immediately if he got any new information on this drug dealer, and let him go. Juan left, and we walked back to our desks to discuss the lack of progress. “Once again, we have absolutely nothing,” Richard muttered, running a frustrated hand over his short black hair. “I mean, we do have this new suspect, Jake,” I countered. “We need to find out everything we can about this drug dealer, and figure out why the IP address tracked back to that specific ranch.”