Prosecutors plan to discuss murder charges filed this week against the parents of a missing Riverside County baby whose mother reported him kidnapped nearly two weeks ago in what she said was an attack outside a sporting good store.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said the initial statement provided by Rebecca Haro contained “inconsistencies” and arrested the 41-year-old Cabazon woman and her 32-year-old husband, Jake Haro, last week. The couple was charged Tuesday with murder and making a false report to law enforcement officers
Riverside County prosecutors plan to provide an update on the investigation at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday, but continued to Sept. 4. The judge delayed the case because the couple’s public defender cited limited information, meaning no police report and only the complaint filed Tuesday.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Friday that investigators believe Emmanuel is dead and the attack and kidnapping reported Aug. 14 by his mother outside a Yucaipa shopping center did not happen.
“During the investigation thus far, numerous interviews have been conducted, search warrants have been served, digital and electronic evidence has been collected and closely analyzed. Based on the evidence, investigators determined a kidnapping in Yucaipa did not occur,” the agency said in a statement. “It is believed Emmanuel is deceased and the search to recover his remains is ongoing.”
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said last week it was aware of reported sightings of Emmanuel Haro, including in Kern County, but details about the reports and locations were not immediately available.
Last week, a car belonging to the baby’s father was seized by authorities. Over the weekend, the father was seen during a search with authorities off the 60 Freeway, but the search continues for the baby.
Jake and Rebecca Haro are pictured with a missing poster of their 7-month-old son Emmanuel in August 2025.
“It is hugely important to actually find the body, but it’s not essential,” said NBC4 legal analyst Royal Oakes. “If you have strong enough circumstantial evidence, physical evidence, DNA to indicate that there was a murder, you may prosecute people even if the body is never found.”
NBC Los Angeles attempted to contact a family member last week at the family home, but did not receive a response. A family attorney was at the property about 90 miles east of Los Angeles Friday morning.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “We’ll figure it out once this case starts moving forward.”
The investigation has unfolded over the past two weeks, beginning with the reported kidnapping in the parking lot of a Big 5 sporting goods store in the San Bernardino County community of Yucaipa.
The car belonging to the father of a missing baby was seized by authorities. Video broadcast Wednesday Aug. 20, 2025 on Today in LA.
“I took him out of the car seat and laid him on the chair. I had his diapers here, and someone said, ‘Hola.’ I couldn’t turn, and I don’t remember nothing. I got up from the floor and didn’t see my child. Someone took him from me,” mother Rebecca Haro said last week.
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Rebecca Haro was “confronted with inconsistencies in her initial statement and declined to continue with the interview.”
Deputies returned to the family’s Cabazon home last week and appeared to visit neighboring properties. They were seen speaking with the infant’s father, Jake Haro, outside the family’s home.
According to law enforcement, Jake Haro was convicted in 2021 for cruelty to a child and in 2024 for being a felon in possession of a handgun.
Authorities are still searching for a seven-month-old baby who went missing in Yucaipa. Lauren Coronado reports for the NBC4 News at 6 a.m. on Aug. 18, 2025.
An arrest warrant was filed for Jake Haro in the child cruelty case in October 2018 involving a baby girl. Authorities responded to his home after the girl was admitted to a hospital with multiple broken bones. According to the court documents, Jake Haro told investigators that he accidentally dropped the girl on a sink as he bathed her. Doctors reported rib and skull fractures, and a brain hemmorage, according to the court documents.
Jake Haro pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment and was sentenced to felony probation for four years and ordered to serve 180 day in jail on a work release program, the Riverside County District Attorney said.
The couple also has a 2-year-old child, who has since been taken into custody by Riverside County Child Protective Services, according to the Sheriff’s Department.