Mom said 7-month-old was kidnapped, CA cops say. Now she and husband arrested
The parents of a missing 7-month-old boy have been arrested after claims of a kidnapping didn’t line up, California deputies say.
Jake and Rebecca Haro were each arrested on a murder charge at their Cabazon home the morning of Friday, Aug. 22, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a post on the social media platform X.
“Investigators will continue their search for (7-month-old) Emmanuel Haro,” deputies said.
The parents’ arrests come after deputies said they found inconsistencies in Rebecca Haro’s initial statement and could not rule out foul play in Emmanuel’s disappearance, McClatchy News previously reported.
More than a week ago, deputies in Yucaipa responded to a store parking lot after getting a report of a kidnapping on Aug. 14, according to an Aug. 16 news release from the sheriff’s department.
Rebecca Haro told deputies she was changing Emmanuel’s diaper when a man physically assaulted her, knocking her unconscious, the sheriff’s department said.
“I was going to get the diaper and somebody said, ‘Hola,’ and I don’t remember anything since,” she told KTLA.
When she said she regained consciousness, her son was gone, deputies said.
“I couldn’t find my son. I checked all around my truck,” Rebecca Haro told KABC. “And I ran into Big 5, and I asked the lady if she saw a baby or someone with a baby. She said no.”
In the days that followed, Rebecca Haro and her husband, Jake Haro, publicly pleaded for Emmanuel’s safe return.
“Whoever took my son, please return him,” Jake Haro told KTLA. “We just want him back. We won’t do anything to you. Just give us our son. Keep him safe, don’t hurt him, make sure you feed him and change him.”
After confronting Rebecca Haro about alleged “inconsistencies in her initial statement,” deputies said she “declined to continue with the interview.”
Investigators served multiple search warrants at the couple’s home and obtained video surveillance footage, deputies said in an Aug. 18 news release, adding that they were reviewing the footage.
McClatchy News reached out to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office which will be prosecuting the case and is awaiting a response on formal charges.
Cabazon is about a 90-mile drive east from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Mom said 7-month-old was kidnapped, CA cops say. Now she and husband arrested."
