Police reveal Friday arrest in kidnapping of 6-year-old boy

Las Vegas police Tuesday revealed the arrest of a man in connection with the kidnapping of 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger.

But police would not talk about Jose Lopez-Buelna's connection to the kidnapping or why his arrest was disclosed four days after the fact.

The 48-year-old was arrested Saturday after a search of his northeast Las Vegas home turned up an unregistered .22-caliber handgun. He was scheduled to appear this morning in North Las Vegas Justice Court on one count of illegal gun possession.

Officers initially detained Lopez-Buelna Friday evening during a traffic stop. He was taken to University Medical Center after complaining of chest pains. Detectives later booked him in absentia at the Clark County Detention Center, according to an arrest report.

Lopez-Buelna's arrest was not his first.

He and two other men were arrested in February 1997 by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies in Barstow, Calif., on drug possession and transportation charges. Three months later, Lopez-Buelna pleaded guilty to transporting a controlled substance and was sentenced to two years in state prison, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.

Federal officials deported Lopez-Buelna to Mexico in 2003, according to the arrest report.

Las Vegas police and federal authorities continued their search for Jesus Gastelum, a Mexican citizen who also used the name Ferdinand Gastelum.

Police called him a person of interest and have not identified his role in Cole's kidnapping last week.

Cole was abducted Oct. 15 from the home shared by his mother and her fiance. Two or three Hispanic men posed as police officers to get inside the house on Cherry Grove Avenue and tie up the two adults with plastic zip ties, police said.

They took the boy when they couldn't find money in the house, police said.

Authorities believe Cole's kidnapping was intended to send a message to his maternal grandfather, Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer, 51, for stealing millions of dollars from drug dealers.

Tinnemeyer, who was arrested Friday in California on a material witness warrant, appeared Monday in federal court in Riverside, Calif. U.S. Magistrate Oswald Parada ordered him and his girlfriend, Terri Leavy, 42, detained and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The two will be brought to Las Vegas, where they will remain in custody as material witnesses. Under federal law, they can be held for a reasonable amount of time until a disposition is taken or they testify under oath. Leavy and Tinnemeyer have not been charged in the case.

It is believed that the grandfather took millions of dollars from a Mexican drug cartel, according to sources.

FBI agents throughout the Western United States and Mexico City have been involved in the investigation.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.