Man arrested for kidnapping child who was playing outside

Detectives from the Miami Dade Police Department's Special Victims Bureau have arrested a man for a kidnapping incident where a six-year-old boy was taken from his front yard.

According to investigators, on December 28th, 2024, at approximately 2:30 p.m. the victim and his older brother were playing soccer in front of their residence. The victim's brother went inside the residence to use the restroom, and an adult male identified as Jose Reynaldo Martinez Reyes, approached the victim and offered to play soccer with him. After befriending the six-year-old victim, the subject lured him away from the residence with the promise of purchasing him a toy. The subject then led the victim away from his home, on foot. Upon noticing that the victim was missing, his brother and an adult family friend began frantically searching for him. The pair located the victim and subject over a mile away from the residence, walking along the roadway hand in hand. When the victim's brother confronted the subject, he began to allege that the victim was his child and began to physically struggle for control of the child. Ultimately, the victim's brother was able to gain control of the child and place him in a waiting vehicle. Once the child was safe, the police were called and when they arrived the subject was detained. In the course of their investigation, detectives were able to verify that the subject has no familial ties to any person involved in this incident and was a stranger to the victim. The subject was arrested and charged accordingly.

Anyone with any information regarding this subject or incident is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS(8477).