CHILLING details continue to emerge in the case of a baby boy who was allegedly snatched in a store parking lot.
Little Emmanuel Haro, seven months, is believed to have been taken after his mom, Rebecca, was about to change his diaper.
In San Bernardino, California, police have been unable to dismiss the possibility of foul play after noticing some “inconsistencies” in Rebecca’s statements following Thursday’s incident.
“Something is not right in this whole picture,” Daniel Chapin, the Uvalde Foundation founder, said.
It has since come to light that Emmanuel’s father, Jake, has a past conviction for felony willful child cruelty, as reported by The Orange County Register.
He was arrested in Hemet in 2018 – a city located around 70 miles from Anaheim.
Haro was sentenced to 180 days in jail and given 48 months of probation.
A prison sentence of 72 months was suspended, according to court records.
Rebecca, a mom of six, and Jake were quizzed by cops, but at some point during the interrogation, she decided to stop being interviewed.
Additionally, police requested Rebecca take a lie detector test. However, Jake declined the test until they secured legal representation, according to Emmanuel’s grandmother, Mary Beushausen.
Rebecca claimed she was attacked while changing Emmanuel’s diaper outside a Big 5 store in Yucaipa.
She said the alleged ambush happened during a trip to buy a mouthguard for her older son, who was playing football.
Rebecca said she put Emmanuel down next to the car seat before claiming she heard a voice.
“I was going to get the diaper and somebody said, ‘Hola,’ and I don’t remember anything since,” she told KTLA-TV.
“I woke up here on the floor and I didn’t see Emmanuel.”
She said she had a black eye when she woke up.
Realizing Emmanuel was not there, Rebecca searched around the car before dashing into the Big 5 store to try and find her son.
She then called 911, which sparked a frantic police response.
Cops brought in K9 teams and deployed helicopters as part of the search for the baby boy.
Jake issued an urgent plea to whoever may have taken Emmanuel.
“Whoever took my son, please return him,” he said.
“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.”
Emmanuel, who has brown hair and brown eyes, was last seen wearing a black Nike onesie.
What is an Amber Alert?
An Amber Alert is a message delivered by a warning system that asks the public for help in finding missing children.
It launched in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an alert system.
There are guidelines for the alerts including a required “reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.”
Authorities must also believe the child is in “imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.”
Enough descriptive information about the child must be provided to the public for the alert to be useful.
The missing child must be 17 years old or younger.
Cops have not issued an Amber Alert.
For an Amber Alert to be issued, cops have to have a reasonable belief that an abduction must’ve happened.
Investigators have to suspect the child is in imminent danger of serious injury or death.
The child has to be 17 or younger, and their name has been inputted into the National Crime Information Center system.
But, in Emmanuel’s case, no information about a suspect has been released.
When issuing Amber Alerts, cops would provide information that could lead to an arrest.
