Where did finger in chili come from?

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Where did the finger come from?

If police know, they aren’t saying. Neither, apparently, is the woman who was arrested for planting the human fingertip in a bowl of Wendy’s chili in San Jose a month ago. She remained in jail in Las Vegas in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Police Chief Rob Davis promised to continue what “could best be described as a CSI type investigation.”

“The criminal investigation does not stop here,” he said. “There is still much to do.”

Police would not detail what lead them to arrest Anna Ayala on Thursday night in Las Vegas, but Capt. Dave Keneller said the Wendy’s incident was a “scam.” Police had indications she was planning a move to Mexico. They also revealed that the finger tip had not been cooked in the chili.

The $100,000 reward offered by Wendy’s is still on the table, and police said they know there are potential witnesses they’ve yet to reach who know how the 1 1/2 inch fingertip ended up in the chili.

Ayala, a former San Jose resident and mother of two teenagers, was arrested at her home on suspicion of two crimes – grand theft and attempted grand theft. She would face six years and two months in prison if convicted.

The grand theft charge is unrelated to Wendy’s and stems from an incident in 2002 when Ayala allegedly sold a mobile home that did not belong to her. She pocketed $11,000 from the unsuspecting buyer, according to her arrest complaint.

But what was made clear on Friday is that the restaurant chain may finally be able to stop the million-dollar-a-day loss it contends it has suffered since Ayala said she was served more than beef and beans in her bowl of chili on March 22. Wendy’s stock price has jumped 5 percent over the past month, and several of the chain’s executives said they felt thrilled that “the nightmare” is over.

“Evidence suggests that the truest victims in this case are the Wendy’s owner, operators and employees here in San Jose, who have suffered financially throughout this investigation,” Davis said.

Davis said the fingertip “is a key part of our case” but would not give details of the investigation. The fingertip is known to have a nicely manicured nail.

Authorities already had determined employees at Wendy’s on Monterey Highway had all 10 fingers intact. So did everyone in the supply chain that provides the ingredients that end up as Wendy’s chili.

That left the suspicion on Ayala.

According to the arrest warrant, Ayala has family ties in Mexico and had told family members that she planned to sell her Las Vegas home and move to Mexico as soon as possible.

Her 18-year-old son, Guadalupe Reyes, denied his mother intended to move to Mexico, but said she had talked about selling the house.

Ayala was arrested after several police cars descended on the sprawling tract development at the southern end of Las Vegas where she lives with her two children and other housemates. Reyes said police apparently waited until he and two of his friends left the house to get something to eat sometime after 8 p.m. Thursday, before they knocked on the door.

Las Vegas police said little about the arrest, explaining they were merely assisting San Jose officers. A report filed with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office indicated that the arrest went smoothly, except that Ayala “refused to put on her shoes.”

Since her arrest, she has been held at the Clark County Detention Center in downtown Las Vegas, pending a justice court hearing scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Clark County authorities said she will have the option to agreeing to extradition to California, or fighting it at that time.

“It’s ridiculous, she didn’t do anything,” Reyes said, calling the charges against his mother “false.”

Reyes seemed surprised when a reporter told him his mother has also been charged with theft in connection with a mobile home in San Jose.

“We had a trailer in San Jose. My mom had bought a trailer in San Jose before we lived here. She gave the trailer to this lady, and the lady didn’t make the payments,” Reyes said.

Reyes said that the other woman – Bertha Davila – was responsible for failing to make payments on the trailer. When asked why authorities would charge his mother in that case he said “that’s what I don’t get.”

In court documents released Friday, police described what happened the night of March 22.

Ayala was dining with relatives that night at Wendy’s. None of them were named in police documents, but part of what they told police was included.

According to a “statement of facts” released by police, “none of the parties witnessed the finger in Ayala’s mouth, but did observe the object after drawing attention to herself and what was in her chili cup.”

Both her father-in-law and mother-in-law said they saw Ayala spit something into her bowl of chili and then throw up, but police were unable to find evidence of vomit at the scene.

It was then that Ayala ran over to a table shared by Devina Cordero and Daniel Barragan, yelling “don’t eat the chili” and placed the fingertip in front of them on a napkin.

When she learned of Ayala’s arrest, “right away, my stomach dropped,” Cordero said Friday. “It makes me really mad. She used me and Daniel as bait as part of her scheme.”

If found guilty, Ayala also used the young employees at Wendy’s. Their pay has been cut since the incident as business dropped dramatically.

“This is a case about the workers,” said Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu. “We’re all used to dealing with victims of crime but when you think of these hourly workers who had their hours cut because of somebody’s scheme to make money – the people who work there are the heart and soul of America.”