As linked to the kidnapping of the boy is in Canal - San Francisco Chronicle

Courtesy of Patterson Police

Four years Juliani Cardenas, the arms of his grandmother in the Stanislaus County town of Patterson, 18 Kidnapped in January 2011.

(28.01) 12:42 PDT Patterson, Stanislaus County - A car is claimed, is linked to the kidnapping of a year 4 boy snatched from the arms of his grandmother in Stanislaus County was now in a Joaquin San Valley Canal to a 10 day search, authorities said.

The Toyota Corolla in a siphon system in the Delta Mendota Canal near Patterson, a dive team, "Sonar Rover", which stated in a position to display the license plate was found, Sheriff Adam Christianson journalists.

It is not known if the missing boy, Julian Cardenas, or the man suspected of kidnapping, Jose Esteban Rodriguez, 27, are inside, but the outlook is bleak, said the sheriff.

"We will not know what this car until we leave the water," said Christianson. "But again, everything we know - in terms of evidence, additional evidence, all - tells us that the car went into the canal, and José Juliani and went with him. "

The water level in the channel is lowered before crews can begin removing the car, "said Christianson. The withdrawal will not begin until mid-afternoon, and can wait until Saturday, "he said.

"It's a very, very dangerous to dive," said the sheriff. "This is not a process that we are rushing."

The car was "jammed against something," said Christianson. "We do not know what it is."

Juliana family about the discovery of the victim advocate with the FBI, which is the case, aid has been notified, the sheriff said.

Research teams located about shipping a dozen cars stolen in diving along the 12 miles of the canal last week after a witness reported a matching car is driven by Toyota.

Police said Rodriguez, who has a conviction for manslaughter, Juliani ripped from the arms of his ex-girlfriend, the mother of Patterson on the afternoon of January 18. Julian Rodriguez mother ex-girlfriend, but Rodriguez is not the boy's father, authorities said.

The crews were to have been the channel siphon system, "said Christianson. Tori Patterson Hughes contacted police to enter the sheriff last week that the siphon system will be checked again, "said Christianson. A team of divers from the Merced County Sheriff's Department found the car this morning.

"Remember that these very difficult circumstances, are looking at them," said Christianson. "The construction and design of the chain, the ratios of water, that we always had to work with authority of the water for raising and lowering water levels - it is not perfect, and therefore we did not give up.

"Because we missed the first time is not really helpful to the overall investigation, but what is relevant, we were determined to find," said Christianson.

"We're certainly due to the fact that we found the car sad," the sheriff said, "even if we knew we were going."