The parents of missing infant Emmanuel Haro were arrested Friday for murder around a week after their 7-month-old boy mysteriously vanished, California authorities said.
Jake and Rebecca Haro were taken into custody by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s homicide detectives at their Cabazon home after the baby’s mother initially insisted her son was kidnapped outside a sporting goods store on Aug. 14.
But authorities said earlier this week that there were inconsistencies in Rebecca’s claims as the probe into the couple ramped up and the sheriff’s office refused to rule out foul play.
The sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Friday that the pair were being charged with murder, but investigators will carry on searching for the baby boy with a full head of brown hair and brown eyes.
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The missing child case has sparked a furious search for little Emmanuel and nationwide attention after the child’s mother told police she was assaulted and knocked out by an unknown man.
She said when she regained consciousness, her little boy was gone, but investigators alleged there were “inconsistencies in her initial statement,” the sheriff’s office said.
During the search leading up to the arrests, authorities served several search warrants at the Haro home as investigators reviewed troves of surveillance footage, according to the law enforcement agency.
Both parents begged for their son’s safe return in interviews last week.
“If you know anything, please come forward or take him to the cops,” Rebecca told KTLA as she sported a black eye. “Please come and bring my son back. I’m begging you.”
Rebecca Haro’s brother James Beushausen is currently serving at least 50 years in prison for the murder of his 27-year-old girlfriend Jaylynn Amanda Keith in 2017, according to reports.
A lawyer that has been representing Jake Haro said he didn’t know much about the arrest and charges, and was still trying to get in touch with his client.
But defense lawyer Vincent Hughes told The Post that Jake Haro has denied any involvement in his child’s disappearance.
Hughes is only speaking on behalf of the father — and not also the mother — to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. He said he has represented the father in past criminal cases.
Jake Haro’s previous legal trouble included a six-month stint in jail in 2023 for a willful child cruelty charge, in which Emmanuel’s older sister was the victim, according to a report.
The half-sister, whom Jake Haro had with another woman, suffered broken bones in Oct. 2018 when she was just 10 weeks old, according to the Orange County Register.
Hughes insisted there shouldn’t be a nexus between the past criminal charge and the new legal trouble his client is now facing.
“The criminal justice system is about reform, he completed the child abuse class, he did what he was told to do. I don’t really see how if somebody has a charge, any future charge means that they did it,” he said as the attorney complained he’s faced a torrent of death threats and verbal abuse since the missing child case gained traction.
“I’m being completely dragged through the mud because I’m giving somebody what they are constitutionally protected and afforded it,” said Hughes.
New York Post
