The parents of a missing seven-month-old boy have become the primary focus of an official investigation after being confronted by inconsistencies in their stories.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said that the boy was said to have been kidnapped outside a store in Southern California last week. Authorities added that the child's mother has stopped cooperating with investigators on the case.
Missing 7-Month-Old Boy
The mother was identified as Rebecca Haro, who reported to authorities that her son was missing in Yucaipa. She told officials that she was standing outside her truck while changing the boy's diaper when an unknown man suddenly assaulted her and knocked her unconscious.
Haro noted that when she woke up and came to, her son, identified as Emmanuel Haro, was already gone. Authorities responded to the incident shortly after 7:45 a.m. and conducted an "extensive search."
However, they were not able to locate the seven-month-old child and had already interviewed several people, including the boy's mother and father, Jake Haro. The Haro family lives in Cabazon, California, roughly 23 miles southeast of Yucaipa, according to the New York Times.
Read more: Dozens of 'Critically Missing' Children Rescued, 8 Suspects Arrested in Florida Operation
An official statement noted that during the interviews, authorities confronted the mother with inconsistencies in her initial statement, which forced her to decline continuing to cooperate. The Sheriff's Department said that investigators are now unable to rule out foul play in the disappearance of the young boy.
Court records showed that the boy's father was found guilty of willful child cruelty in 2023 and was sentenced to 180 days in county jail. In an email on Monday, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department said that investigators have not ruled out "anyone's involvement" in the case.
Inconsistencies in Parents' Stories
After the mother declined to continue cooperating with officials, the father refused to take a lie detector test until a lawyer was present. The child's grandmother, who claims that the boy's parents are innocent, said that deputies searched the couple's residence, KTLA5 reported.
Since their initial investigation, officials also found possible video of the mother with a bruised and black eye as early as Aug. 3. There was also a claim that nobody saw the father at the nearby park where the family gathered on the day of the alleged kidnapping.
During the whole ordeal, child services in Riverside County took custody of a young child at the couple's Cabazon home, but the reason for doing so was not immediately shared, as per NBC News.
