At a time that should have been filled with hope as the family settled in with a new baby and started a new business, the four victims were killed and their bodies stashed in a remote almond orchard.

And after arresting a suspect, police are still hunting for a second killer.

And after arresting a suspect, police are still hunting for a second killer.

The chilling crime came at a moment when fear was already rippling through rural San Joaquin Valley towns, inflamed by a possible serial killer ambushing people in nearby Stockton.

When a farmworker stumbled upon the remains of four people — Jasdeep Singh, 36, Jasleen Kaur, 27, their 8-month-old daughter, Aroohi Dehri, and her uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39

Near a country road in Dos Palos on Wednesday, Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke said his anger defied words.

Warnke said Thursday that the suspect, Jesus Manuel Salgado, previously drove a truck for the family and had been fired.

Salgado was booked into the Merced County Jail Thursday evening on four counts of kidnapping and four counts of murder, according to the sheriff’s office.

Law enforcement officials were looking for a second person who may have aided in the kidnapping or killing, Warnke said.