St. George woman arrested on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping

A St. George woman has been arrested after police say she kidnapped a woman and her baby and held them for ransom.

Nelly Ciprian Sosa, 35, is facing felony charges of kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, child endangerment, and evidence tampering.

Officers with the St. George Police Department responded to a potential kidnapping call at approximately 4:18 p.m. Tuesday after a man from Kansas City called dispatch reporting that his stepdaughter and her ten-month-old daughter had been kidnapped, according to arresting documents.

The female suspect allegedly demanded the man wire her approximately $2500 for ransom, which he told police he was required to do by 6:00 p.m. or else “something bad would happen,” the report states.

The Kansas City man reported to police that his stepdaughter was currently working for the female, but he didn’t know exactly where she was living, according to authorities.

Police say the man provided them the phone number that the suspect called in, an address, and the bank account number that she demanded he send the money to.

When officers arrived at the given address, they learned the residence was a vacation rental and the owners were at home, unaware of reports of a possible kidnapping, the report states.

Officers used an online investigative system, which showed the phone number was registered to a woman named Nelly Ciprian, who police said they were familiar with from previous incidents.

Authorities arrived at the suspect’s listed address and discovered multiple people inside the residence, including the kidnapping victims, according to the report.

Officers detained Ciprian, who stated that she had bought a plane ticket for the female and her baby to fly from Kansas City to St. George and work for her. Ciprian told police that the female was being abused by her father.

The suspect reported that the woman and baby “came here with nothing,” and she spent approximately $2500, the amount she requested for ransom, on transportation, food, and clothes, records show.

Authorities said they learned Ciprian’s daughter would watch the victim’s ten-month-old child while she went to work with Ciprian, who police say is contracted to clean homes across the city. Ciprian demanded a minimum of $100 a day from the victim for her daughter to watch the baby, according to the report.

The victim allegedly requested to go back home to Kansas City when the suspect told her she was not allowed to go back home until she received all of her money back. Police state Ciprian’s 14-year-old son physically assaulted the woman and told her she was not allowed to leave until his mother received her money.

“Nelly and her son then took all the victim’s property, which included a cell phone, baby formula, identification information, money, and clothes. They then took all of her property and intentionally concealed the property in a vacant dirt lot behind their house,” the report states.

Police said the suspect allowed them to look through her phone, and call logs consisted of approximately 26 phone calls within a three hour period to the stepfather. Text messages to him showed the suspect’s bank name, bank account number, routing number, her name of “Nelly Ciprian Sosa” and the payment options which consisted of “Venmo,” “Paypal,” or “Zelles,” officers state.

Officers stated in the arresting documents that there is possible evidence to support additional victims working for Ciprian.

Story provided by our news partners at ABC 4 News.