Carrollton Amber Alert ends with arrest in RO

RED OAK – A missing 10-year-old Carrollton girl was found in Red Oak last week after an Amber Alert went out statewide.

The girl’s mother, Maria Romero Ramos, 45, had been murdered, and Red Oak Police arrested suspect Ronald Singer, 35 for the crime and removal of the girl from her home.

The girl had not been harmed when Red Oak Police found her in that city.

The Carrollton Police credited the Red Oak Police Department for being “instrumental in taking [the] suspect into custody.”

Red Oak Police Chief Garland Wolf said, “We received the Amber Alert as everyone else did.  

“Our response to the scene was because of one very locked-on front counter associate for La Quinta who recognized the persons from the Amber Alert. 

“She in turn notified the on-duty staff at La Quinta who called 911. Had it not been for the observant hotel clerk and his diligence and the intelligence they provided upon our arrival, this could have turned out very different.”

Red Oak’s first responding officers immediately began to gather intelligence, summon additional officers and resources and confirm involved vehicles and parties in regard to the Amber Alert.

Wolf said too, “This situation required us to expand the scope of the response because it is in a hotel.  

“It was now, not just the safety of the child in question – but other patrons, hotel staff and the first responders.”
He said his department quickly determined what room and floor the suspect was on and determined the number of potential guests on that floor and in the building.  

From there they began to work a plan for surveillance and control of the floor in which Singer was on in order to limit the movement of the suspect should he try to flee.  

The ROPD team also had to devise a plan to conduct a rescue of the juvenile if the situation turned violent. They did this by sectoring the floor, doing surveillance on the room and calling on additional resources from the originating agency to include SWAT and Crisis Negotiators.   

“We had specific rules of engagement to minimize exposure and threats to the officers on that floor should they encounter the suspect or the need to execute a rescue presented itself,” Wolf said. “After several minutes of observation the suspect was seen leaving his room alone and he was confronted by the officers conducting surveillance and was taken into custody without incident.”

Officers then entered the room based on the need to verify if the juvenile female was there. She was found sleeping in a bed unharmed.  

“When the suspect came out on his own accord, he was completely caught off-guard,” Wolf added. “This was the best possible outcome we could have hoped for given the nature of the Amber Alert. The juvenile child was recovered uninjured, the suspect in custody was uninjured and no force was needed, the other hotel guest and staff of the hotel were uninjured, no officers were injured nor was there any damage to the property.”

Singer, Ramos’ ex-husband was charged with murder and transferred to the Denton County Jail. He does not have a record of violent crime, and investigators are trying to determine a motive.  

“I could not be more proud of the officers and staff involved,” Wolf concluded. “They relied on their training and their skill to achieve and maximize the outcome of the encounter on what was a zero fail operation. It just goes to show that you never know where or when a situation like this may happen, but that is why we train and prepare staff for the worst case scenario if it does darken our doorway.”