Emmanuel Haro’s father, clad in prison jumpsuit, seen helping police search for baby’s body in California badlands
The desperate search for 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro took an unexpected turn Sunday, when the baby’s father, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, was seen alongside San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies combing through the rural fields of Moreno Valley, California.
Jake Haro, 32, and Rebecca Haro, 23, were both arrested Friday on suspicion of murdering their son, but his body has still not been found.
“It is believed Emmanuel is deceased and the search to recover his remains is ongoing,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release Friday afternoon.
Emmanuel was first reported missing on August 14 after his mother Rebecca claimed that while she was changing his diaper outside a store in Yucaipa, she was “physically assaulted by an unknown male and rendered unconscious,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
She said that when she woke up, Emmanuel was gone.
“I was going to get the diaper and somebody said, ‘Hola,’ and I don’t remember anything since,” Rebecca tearfully told KTLA the day after the alleged attack. “I woke up here on the floor, and I didn’t see Emmanuel.”
But that account quickly unraveled.
Investigators launched a massive search, deploying scent-tracking dogs in Yucaipa and interviewing “multiple individuals” in the case, including both parents.
“During those interviews, Rebecca was confronted with inconsistencies in her initial statement and declined to continue with the interview,” the sheriff’s office said.
Jake Haro’s lawyer, Vincent Hughes, told the Los Angeles Times that the mother’s “inconsistencies” stemmed from being overwhelmed by her son’s disappearance. She declined a lie detector test when authorities requested one.
Detectives said they were “unable to rule out foul play in the disappearance of Emmanuel.”
In the days that followed, they carried out “extensive” searches in Yucaipa and Cabazon, served “several search warrants at the Haro home,” and reviewed a “large amount of surveillance video” from surrounding areas. Social workers also removed a 2-year-old child from the couple’s home.
On Friday, Jake and Rebecca Haro were arrested at their Cabazon home and booked on suspicion of murder.
The investigation has also been shadowed by 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.
As of Monday, the search continues for baby Emmanuel. His parents have been charged with murder and are being held at Riverside County jail without bail.
