The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has located a child who had been missing for nearly six years after originally disappearing from the city of Duarte.
On July 1, 2020, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) contacted the Sheriff’s Department’s Temple Station to report the child missing from Duarte. At the time, DCFS had been conducting an investigation involving the child. According to authorities, the child’s mother—who had custody—stopped communicating with DCFS personnel and was believed to have taken the child.
On Friday, March 6, Temple Station detectives received information suggesting the child might be in Washington County, North Carolina. Detectives contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, which conducted a follow-up investigation within its jurisdiction and located the child enrolled at a local school.
The child has been safely recovered and is now in protective custody.
The investigation remains ongoing. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department continues to work with DCFS and authorities in North Carolina.
Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
