The parents of an infant son in California have appeared in court to be formally charged with his murder and making false reports to police, after the child’s disappearance prompted massive searches in the nearby area.
Jake Haro, 32, and Rebecca Haro, 41, are accused of having a hand in the death of Emmanuel Haro, who was just 7 months old. Both appeared briefly in court Tuesday, 12 days after the child was first reported missing.
The Haros appeared briefly for their arraignment about 1:30 p.m. in Riverside County, where they were charged on one count each of murder with malice, according to The Los Angeles Times. They also were charged with making a false police report, which is a misdemeanor.
Authorities said previously they believe the couple faked the infant’s disappearance and that he is presumed dead.
Prosecutors have reportedly asked that their bail be set at $1 million. The arraignments were both continued to September 4, and neither Haro has entered a plea.
Emmanuel was first reported missing on August 14 after his mother claimed that while she was changing his diaper outside a Big 5 sporting goods store in Yucaipa, she was “physically assaulted by an unknown male and rendered unconscious,” per the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
She said that when she woke up, Emmanuel was gone.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Rebecca Haro’s eyes appeared red and her voice was hoarse when answering the judge’s questions, The LA Times reported. Jake Haro stared forward and said nothing.
Both parents were initially cooperative with authorities but stopped after being confronted with inconsistencies in the mother’s story, according to police. A massive search has since been launched, including the deployment of scent-tracking dogs in Yucaipa, but the child has not been found.
On Sunday Jake Haro was seen, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, alongside San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies, combing through the rural fields of Moreno Valley, California.
But that search yielded no results, authorities told The LA Times.
The scrutiny surrounding the Haros built after the emergence of information about Jake Haro’s criminal history.
Court records show he was convicted of willful child cruelty in 2023 following a case in which his infant daughter with a previous spouse suffered multiple severe injuries, including a skull fracture, brain hemorrhage, and broken ribs.
Haro and his then-wife, Vanessa Avina, pleaded guilty. In that case, he was sentenced to 180 days in a sheriff’s work-release program and ordered into a child abuser treatment program.
