The disappearance of 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro has gripped Southern California with equal parts confusion, heartbreak, and suspicion. Nearly two weeks after his mother, Rebecca Haro, reported that her baby had been kidnapped outside a sporting goods store in Yucaipa, she and her husband, Jake, now sit in jail accused of his murder.
Rebecca, however, insists that she is innocent. Speaking from custody over the weekend, she maintained her belief that her child was taken and that he is still alive. “I will not give up on my baby,” the 41-year-old told a reporter from the Southern California News Group. “I want to be out looking for my baby.”
That sense of defiance stands in sharp contrast to what investigators say they’ve uncovered. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office has flatly rejected the kidnapping account. “Based on the evidence, investigators determined a kidnapping in Yucaipa did not occur,” the department wrote in a public statement. “It is believed Emmanuel is deceased and the search to recover his remains is ongoing.”
The shift from a reported kidnapping to a suspected homicide came quickly. Rebecca first went on local television the day after Emmanuel was reported missing, sporting a swollen black eye and describing an attack in the parking lot of a Big 5 Sporting Goods store. She told reporters that she had been changing her son’s diaper when someone said “hola” from behind her, then knocked her unconscious. When she came to, she claimed, Emmanuel was gone.
On August 22, eight days after the initial report, Jake and Rebecca were arrested at their Cabazon home on suspicion of murder.
Since then, Jake has appeared in the company of investigators and cadaver dogs, scouring fields off the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley for signs of the infant’s body. Emmanuel has not been found.
The Haros’ troubles go deeper. Court records show Jake, 32, was convicted last year of intentional child cruelty, a felony offense. The couple also lost custody of their 2-year-old daughter in the wake of Emmanuel’s disappearance; she was removed from the home by child welfare officials. Still, Rebecca publicly defended her husband over the weekend. “He is a good dad,” she said. “He would never hurt a baby.”
Both parents are now being held without bail as they await their first court appearance in Riverside County. Prosecutors have yet to announce the exact charges they’ll face, but the sheriff’s office has already signaled its view of what happened.
