The search for baby Emmanuel Haro expanded to a dusty field in Moreno Valley over the weekend, where San Bernardino County Sheriff’s investigators were joined by the boy’s father, Jake Haro, wearing a jail jumpsuit.
Haro, 32, and his wife, Rebecca Haro, 41, have been in sheriff’s custody since they were arrested Friday on suspicion of killing their 7-month-old son, Emmanuel. The infant’s mother reported him missing Aug. 14 after she said she was attacked in a Yucaipa parking lot near a Big 5 sporting goods store, knocked unconscious, and discovered her baby was gone when she woke up.
Investigators say that story was made up.
Since then questions have swirled around the baby’s whereabouts, even as the parents appealed to the public to help them find their son. Investigators deemed the disappearance suspicious early on, saying Rebecca Haro offered contradictory statements about what happened the evening her child disappeared. An attorney who spoke on behalf of the parents said she was simply emotional and declined to take a polygraph.
On Sunday, news helicopters captured sheriff’s investigators and Jake Haro in a bright orange jumpsuit in a dry-grass-covered shoulder of the westbound 60 Freeway near Gilman Springs Road, joined by cadaver dogs. Sheriff’s investigators declined to say what led them to the area or why Haro was with them.
“During yesterday’s search, Jake Haro was present with detectives; however, Emmanuel’s body was not found despite an exhaustive effort,” the department said in a statement Monday. “The Sheriff’s Department would not, and did not, describe Haro’s presence at the location as providing assistance.”
Rebecca Haro, meanwhile, continued to maintain her innocence and her husband’s in a brief interview with a reporter on Sunday.
“I will not give up. I will not give up on my baby,” she told a reporter from the Southern California News Group. “I want to be out looking for my baby.”
After Emmanuel Haro was reported missing, Riverside County child protective removed a 2-year-old girl from the Haro home. County officials would not disclose why the child was removed, citing state confidentiality laws.
According to court records, Jake Haro was convicted in 2023 of willful cruelty to a child following an incident where a baby in his care suffered multiple bone fractures in 2018. He was still on probation in that case when he was arrested last week.
In her interview Sunday, Rebecca Haro said that she still supported her husband.
“He’s a good dad,” she told the news outlet. “He would never hurt a baby.”
The couple were arrested at their home in Cabazon on Friday as investigators served a search warrant and combed the property for evidence.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators in plain clothes searched the property, passing by a colorful kid’s bicycle leaning against a fence and a baby swing on the the porch.
Investigators entered three detached buildings on the property, including a single-story home and a tin-roofed barn. Helicopters circled over the neighborhood and showed footage of investigators parsing through scattered items in the home’s rear while multiple people recorded the scene with their phones from the street.
“It is believed Emmanuel is deceased and the search to recover his remains is ongoing,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “While these arrests mark a significant development, our focus remains on finding Emmanuel.”
It was not immediately clear what, if anything, detectives took from the home. Both parents remain in custody and jail records show they are due in court Tuesday morning. Riverside County prosecutors said they are still reviewing the case from investigators.
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