While the search for missing Emmanuel Haro continues in California, authorities say they have a “strong indication” of where the remains of the baby might be. 

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin made the comments at a wide-ranging press conference Wednesday, while also laying out allegations that Emmanuel was “severely abused” over time by his parents, Jake and Rebecca Haro, before he vanished earlier in August.

Although Rebecca reported that her son had been kidnapped, prosecutors believe the 7-month-old is dead and have charged the pair with murder and filing a false report.

“The filing in this case reflects our belief that baby Emmanuel was abused… over time and that eventually, because of that abuse, he succumbed to those injuries,” Hestrin said.

As part of the “ongoing investigation,” authorities are now searching for the baby’s remains. 

Investigators were spotted Sunday in a remote field in Moreno Valley alongside Jake, who was wearing an orange prison uniform. 

“Some level of cooperation with the suspects”

Although authorities declined on Wednesday to say exactly what led them to the area, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus told the media that there had been “some level of cooperation with the suspects involved” in the case. 

Hestrin added that although he does not know “exactly where the remains are” of the child, he does have a “pretty strong indication” of where they could be. 

“We have some ideas in terms of where we’re gonna look and where we’re gonna continue to investigate,” he said.

Emmanuel Haro’s disappearance 

The investigation began on August 14, 2025 after Rebecca told authorities that she had been changing Emmanuel’s diaper in the parking lot of Yucaipa retail store when an unknown male “physically assaulted” her and knocked her unconscious, according to an earlier statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. She said that when she regained consciousness, the baby was gone.

Although an extensive search was launched to find the baby, investigators soon began to question Rebecca’s account.

“Within 24 hours, through video surveillance, we found inconsistencies in Rebecca’s statement,” Dicus said Wednesday.

Dicus said that in the days that followed, investigators devoted “hundreds of hours” to gathering forensic data from the couple’s vehicles, cell phones, and potential crime scenes that led them to the conclusion that the kidnapping report was a hoax.

“There is a tremendous amount of evidence to suggest that the initial story posed was not the correct story,” he said. 

Jake Haro left child “permanently bedridden,” authorities say 

Dicus went on to describe Jake as “an experienced child abuser.”

According to Hestrin, Jake was arrested in 2018 on allegations of child abuse, child neglect and cruelty in connection with the abuse of an infant daughter he shared with his ex-wife. 

The child suffered an acute rib fracture, partial bone fracture of the skull, brain hemorrhage, and had signs of a healing tibia fracture and other rib fractures as a result of what Hestrin described as “severe abuse” that left her “permanently bedridden.”

The case went to court in 2023 and Jake agreed to plead guilty in court. Although prosecutors recommended  that Jake receive prison time, the judge in the case gave him a suspended sentence, which meant he went on probation and was ordered to complete 180 days of work release, Hestrin said. 

“An outrageous error in judgement by this judge”

“I will say that it was an outrageous, an outrageous error in judgement by this judge,” Hestrin said Wednesday. “That decision was absolutely outrageous. Mr. Haro should have been in prison at the time that this crime happened, and if that judge had done his job as he should have done, Emmanuel would be alive today.”

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco also called Emmanuel’s presumed death “preventable in numerous ways.” 

“There is absolutely nothing, nothing, no crime more important than the injury of a human being, particularly a child,” he said.

Emmanuel’s parents, who are each being held on $1 million bail, are slated to appear in court for an arraignment hearing on Sept. 4, according to a statement from prosecutors. 

After her arrest, Rebecca spoke with the Southern California News Group to proclaim her innocence.

“I want to be out looking for my baby,” she told the news outlet. “I will not give up. I will not give up on my baby.”