More than a week after a woman claimed that her 7-month-old baby was kidnapped from a California parking lot, his parents have been arrested for murder.
Jake and Rebecca Haro were taken into custody at their rural Cabazon home, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Friday in a post on X.
Authorities say the search continues for baby Emmanuel, who has not been found.
The child was reported missing on August 14 after his mother claimed he had been abducted from her while in the Big 5 Sporting Goods parking lot in Yucaipa.
Rebecca Haro initially told authorities that while she was changing Emmanuel’s diaper outside her vehicle on August 14, a man attacked her and knocked her unconscious. When she came to, she said, the baby was gone.
A search was launched and investigators interviewed the parents but said the pair stopped cooperating after being confronted with inconsistencies in her story.
Authorities appeared to hone in on the parents in their investigation earlier this week as they searched the parents’ home and later seized a car belonging to the baby’s father.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in an update on Wednesday it is aware of reported sightings of Emmanuel, but further details were not made available.
Adding to the scrutiny were revelations 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.
Both Jake and his then-wife, Vanessa Avina, pleaded guilty. In that case, Jake was sentenced to 180 days in a sheriff’s work-release program and ordered into a child abuser treatment program.
