Utah cancels Amber Alert for Calif. boy


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An Amber Alert issued in Utah for an attempted murder suspect and his son out of California has been canceled.

Orange County, Calif. investigators thought the man may come to Utah because his girlfriend lives in Draper. They asked Utah to help by issuing an Amber Alert here Friday night. Now police believe the father and son made their way into Mexico, instead.

Police received a tip that the suspect, 46-year-old Lonnie Ramos and his 9-year-old son, Ryan Ramos, might be in Davis County. But that lead apparently didn't pan out. Utah Amber Alert Coordinator Paul Murphy said, "There was a witness who said he [Lonnie Ramos] was spotted at Cherry Hill."

"Orange County authorities really thought there was a good chance he was here in Utah," Murphy said.

Utah cancels Amber Alert for Calif. boy

Someone at Cherry Hill Camping Resort and Water Park thought they saw Ramos' RV there. But it turns out that Ramos wasn't there. Just to be sure, Utah kept the Amber Alert in place for California.

Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, said, "We're following up on each and every one of those tips. Hopefully, the right tip will come in and we'll be able to safely return Ryan Ramos to his mother."

Utah cancels Amber Alert for Calif. boy

Lonnie Ramos is wanted for shooting his estranged wife in Lake Forest, Calif. on July 2. Police say the woman drove to Ramos' house for a custody exchange. They say Ramos either jumped out from behind some bushes or another car and started shooting at the ex-wife's car. She was struck in the face. A friend and the friend's 4-year-old daughter also were in the car and were uninjured. The friend drove the car to a nearby shopping center and called 911.

2005 Fleetwood Providence 
CA Lic: 5EGW556
2005 Fleetwood Providence CA Lic: 5EGW556 (Photo: Orange Co. Sheriff's Dept.)

Ramos took off with his son. This afternoon his abandoned vehicle was found on the Mexican border, leading police to believe he's somewhere in Mexico and not in Utah. That's why Utah's Amber Alert was canceled this afternoon.

The victim was in critical condition, but investigators now believe she's likely to survive.

Amormino says the friend came along with the victim because they anticipated some kind of dispute. He says although Ramos has no criminal history, deputies responded a couple of times to custody exchanges between the two due to concerns of domestic violence.

Ramos is described as 6 feet 3 inches tall, 180 pounds with brown hair. Ryan Ramos is described as 9 years old, 4 feet 9 inches tall, 85 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Paul Murphy said, "We have been working with all the states throughout the country to make sure we have a seamless Amber Alert system, so if Utah needs to issue an Amber Alert in another state, or another state needs to issue an Amber Alert here, everybody has worked together. They know each other, and they know that resource is available."

This was the third Amber Alert Utah has issued for another state since the program began here. The others were for Indiana and Minnesota. In both of those cases the children were found, one in Utah and the other just across the Nevada border in Wendover. But it looks like in this California case, the child isn't here.

E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com

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Alex Cabrero and Andrew Adams

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