"This is the story of our American dream gone wrong," the grieving wife of an Indian-origin Sikh man killed along with three members of his brother's family, including an 8-month-old baby, has said.
Bodies of 36-year-old Jasdeep Singh, 27-year-old Jasleen Kaur, their eight-month-old child Aroohi Dheri and the baby's uncle, 39-year-old Amandeep Singh were found on Wednesday evening in an orchard after they were kidnapped on Monday.
The family, originally from Harsi Pind in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, was kidnapped at a business in Merced County, California.
Jaspreet Kaur, Amandeep's widow, said in a GoFundMe fundraiser that her husband and his brother had been in the United States for 18 years and supported not only their families in California but also their elderly parents back in India.
“This is the story of our shared American dream gone wrong,” she wrote. “Our loving family was violently taken away from us on October 3rd,” the family's gofundme page said.
Jaspreet Kaur said her husband routinely donated food to the local food bank and never missed Sunday service in the local Sikh temple. They had a 9-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son.
The family's gofundme page said the two brothers were "the primary bread earners for the family (and) supported their elderly parents." the appeal said.
Jaspreet Kaur has organised this fundraiser.
The suspect in the killing of the Sikh family has been arrested. He once worked for the family's trucking business and had a longstanding dispute with them that got "pretty nasty" and culminated in an act of senseless killing, authorities and a relative said.
Authorities said they were kidnapped from the family's trucking business in the central California city of Merced, and parts of the kidnapping were captured on surveillance video.
Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, was formally arrested late on Thursday on four counts of murder and four counts of kidnapping in the case, Merced County sheriff's spokesperson Alexandra Britton said.
The city of Merced has also organised a candlelight vigil for the family every night at 7 pm from October 6 to October 9.
FILE PHOTO: Floral tributes are laid following a vigil for the victims of the knife attack in Southport, Britain July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
