Missing Teller Believed Abducted by Ex-Boyfriend

She left for lunch Thursday and never came back. Now police suspect a missing bank teller was kidnapped by an angry ex-boyfriend, who may also have taken the woman’s 4-year-old daughter.

Fullerton police said Friday that detectives are trying to piece together what happened to Loraine Marquez from a trail of cell phone calls and bank withdrawals.

Sgt. Dave Stanko said the usually punctual 28-year-old employee failed to return from a routine lunch break at the Bank of America at Brookhurst Street and Orangethorpe Avenue.

Instead, he said, Marquez used a cell phone to call the branch manager from the bank parking lot, complaining that her ex-boyfriend, Pedro Lozano, 25, of Los Angeles, was with her and refused to let her out of the car.

Alarmed, the manager went outside just in time to see the car leave the lot. He then called police.

A short time later, Marquez picked up her daughter from her parents’ house in Whittier, where she lived. Police said the mother packed some insulin for the diabetic child and told her parents they were going to the park.

Police said Marquez was last heard from at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, when she called the bank to transfer money from her savings account to her checking account. When the manager tried to question her, Marquez reportedly indicated that Lozano would not let her talk.

Lozano then called a relative from a phone booth in Oceanside to ask what documentation was needed to go to Guadalajara, Mexico, according to detectives. Seven more calls were made from the San Diego area Thursday afternoon and evening, they said. But by 10 p.m., the cell phone was being used in downtown Los Angeles. Half an hour later, bank records showed Marquez’s bank card was used at a Los Angeles ATM.

Marquez’s parents told police that their daughter broke off her relationship with Lozano three weeks ago because he had been jealous of visits to the house in Whittier by her ex-husband, the child’s father.

Police asked for help in locating the trio. Marquez is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 127 pounds, with brown eyes and long brown hair. She was last seen wearing a yellow print ankle-length dress and a white sweater. Her daughter, Joanna Marquez, was last seen wearing a pink shirt and pants.

Lozano is described as about 5 feet 7 inches tall and stocky, with brown eyes and short brown hair. Police said there was no indication that he is armed. Marquez’s car is a 1995 four-door Toyota Tercel with license plate 3MGH047. Any information should be forwarded to the Fullerton Police Department at (714) 738-6715.