Judge: Man can be held another week
A man detained in the investigation of a 6-year-old boy's abduction can be held a week longer while prosecutors consider filing a weapons charge, a judge decided Wednesday.
The brief hearing did not address the abduction, and police have not said why they consider Jose Lopez-Buelna a "person of interest."
The convicted drug trafficker was arrested during the investigation into Cole Puffinburger's abduction. The boy was found unharmed Saturday night.
Lopez-Buelna, 48, appeared by closed-circuit television from jail at the brief hearing.
Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl found probable cause to hold him on suspicion of a felony weapons violation and set bail at $10,000. Lopez-Buelna could be released if prosecutors don't file a charge by Oct. 29.
Cole was abducted from his mother's home on Oct. 8 by two or three men posing as police, and he was the subject of an intensive search before he was released unharmed on a Las Vegas street.
The boy's grandfather, Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer, and a woman believed to be his companion are being held in federal custody as material witnesses.
Police initially said they were investigating whether Tinnemeyer stole money from Mexican drug dealers and said Cole's kidnapping was a "message." But they haven't given further information.
Someone else is being sought as a person of interest, but police have named no suspects in Cole's kidnapping.
