The parents of a seven-month-old California boy who has been missing since earlier this month have been charged with murder.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s office charged Jake Haro, 32, and his wife, Rebecca Haro, 41, in the death of their son Emmanuel, according to court papers filed Tuesday.
They are also facing an additional misdemeanour charge of making a false police report.
Emmanuel was reported missing on Aug. 14 and has not been found. Prosecutors believe that the child had been dead for up to nine days before his mother reported the alleged abduction, according to court documents viewed by news affiliate KTLA.
The Haros were scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, but their arraignment was delayed until Sept. 4. They are both being held on US$1-million bail, online court records show.
Riverside County prosecutors said they would not release additional information until a press conference on Wednesday.
Emmanuel’s mother claimed she was attacked and knocked unconscious and that when she woke up, someone had kidnapped her baby on Aug. 14.
Rebecca and Jake Haro were arrested at their home in Cabazon on Aug. 22, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
Speaking to ABC Eyewitness News earlier this month, Rebecca Haro said she had been changing her son’s diaper in a store parking lot in Yucaipa, Calif., near San Bernardino, when she was assaulted from behind.
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“I got him out of the car seat, and I laid him down so I could get his diapers ready, and somebody said, ‘Hola,’ and that’s all I remember. I saw white, and I fell on the floor, and as soon as I got up, I couldn’t find my son. I checked all around my truck,” Rebecca, who had a black eye, told the outlet.
Rebecca claimed she never saw her alleged attacker and no security footage was found in the area where Emmanuel, the youngest of her six children, disappeared.
Authorities said in a statement that they later confronted Rebecca about inconsistencies in her account and that she refused to co-operate.
Authorities searched the family’s home in the Riverside County community of Cabazon. Over the weekend, they also searched for the boy’s body near a freeway while his father, wearing a jail jumpsuit, was present. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said it wouldn’t describe Jake Haro’s presence during the search as “providing assistance.”
Jake was convicted of child cruelty in 2023 and was required to enrol in a child abuse treatment program, court records show. His lawyer in that case, Vincent Hughes, told the San Bernadino Sun last week that he didn’t believe the Haros were responsible for their son’s disappearance.
In an interview from jail last weekend, Rebecca told Press-Enterprise that her husband wouldn’t hurt a baby and she wanted to find her son.
“I want to be out looking for my baby,” she added.
Authorities describe Emmanuel as 21 pounds and approximately 24 inches tall, with brown hair and brown crossed eyes. He was last seen wearing a black Nike onesie.
— With files from Global News and The Associated Press
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