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A 13-year-old boy was discovered dead in a ditch recently after disappearing for four days. He was last seen in the company of his soccer coach, who is under investigation for unrelated allegations of sexual assault. The authorities, along with the boy’s family, have confirmed this information.
The boy, Oscar Omar Hernandez, was found in Ventura County, more than 70 miles away from his family’s residence in Lancaster. The Los Angeles police department was involved in locating his body.
While the exact cause of Hernandez’s death remains unknown, his family suspects foul play involving the soccer coach. They had trusted the coach, who was reportedly with the boy on the day Hernandez failed to return home, which intensified their suspicions.
The coach picked up Hernandez’s phone that day when his brother Jose tried to call him, telling the family member that the teen was unavailable, Fox 11 reported.
Later, the coach allegedly told Hernandez’s father that he had dropped the boy off “near” the family’s home — prompting the family to contact police.
“We had that person at our home,” his sister Alejandra told Fox 11 through a translator.
“He even helped us look for Oscar.”
The coach — identified by reports as 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino — was arrested by Los Angeles police Wednesday on an unrelated warrant for a sexual assault case that was investigated last year by the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
The alleged assault took place and was initially investigated in February 2024, but police at the time declined to file criminal charges for unknown reasons.
Now, Garcia Aquino faces a single count of assault with intent to commit another felony, which prosecutors allege was the attempted rape, sodomy or oral copulation of a man.
He is being held in jail on a $100,000 bail.
Garcia Aquino has not officially been named as a suspect in Hernandez’s case, and the teen’s autopsy results are still pending.
Meanwhile, a vigil was held Thursday at the site where Hernandez’s body was found.
The teen had moved to California with his family from Honduras three years ago in search of a better life, and Hernandez had a passion for soccer.