The soccer coach, who was reportedly under investigation following the discovery of a 13-year-old boy’s body in a Ventura County ditch, has been taken into custody on an unrelated charge, according to his family.

The family of Oscar Hernandez has been holding candlelight vigils outside their Sun Valley home to honor the boy’s life.

His family reported him missing on March 30 after he did not come back home as expected. They believe he was with his soccer coach in the Antelope Valley at the time of his disappearance.

Three days later on April 2, Oscar’s body was discovered in a wooded area off a Ventura County road almost 70 miles away from his home.

The coach, who is now allegedly a person of interest in the case, was arrested on Wednesday for an unrelated charge from 2024, his family said.

Oscar’s mother, Gladys Maribel Bautista, said the last time she spoke to her son was through a video call on the day Oscar went missing.

Bautista mentioned that Oscar had traveled by metro to his coach’s home in the Antelope Valley to assist with some side work. They were set to paint the jerseys for the soccer team, and the coach allegedly promised to “compensate him well,” according to his mother.

When they called Oscar on his cell phone later that night, the coach answered the call instead, Bautista said.

It was a short conversation, and she said it felt as if the coach didn’t want to speak with them. He also claimed Oscar couldn’t take the phone call because he had paint on his hands.

Days later, Oscar’s body was located by police following a search. His family remains devastated and is desperate for answers. 

Oscar was a 7th grade student at Sun Valley Magnet School and was an excellent soccer player, his friends said. His family moved to the U.S. from Honduras just three years ago. 

He first met the soccer coach at the Valley Plaza Sports Complex in North Hollywood, according to this family.

The coroner’s office has not released the boy’s cause of death. His family said the Los Angeles Police Department has assumed the investigation but has not been sharing much information with them.

The boy’s family wants justice for his death, his grieving mother saying in Spanish that, “Perhaps my son gave his life for others to be exposed.”

The arrested coach is slated for a court hearing on April 7 in downtown Los Angeles. His identity was not released as police have not publicly confirmed that he is the same person being questioned for the boy’s death.

KTLA reached out to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for more information on the case but was only told that the case remains an ongoing investigation. 

The Hernandez family plans to hold Oscar’s funeral in Honduras. 

While police suggested in a news conference Wednesday night that there was a person of interest in the case, they did not identify a specific person, nor has any additional information been released by investigators.