Startling new revelations have come to light about the father of a missing 7-month-old Southern California boy who was reported kidnapped — including past jail time for child cruelty.
Jake Haro is on probation for those charges — after he was convicted and jailed in 2023. But he is also facing additional charges for weapons possession, according to court records.
His son Emmanuel has not been seen since last Thursday when his mother Rebecca told police she was attacked by an unknown man who said “hola” and snatched the child while she was changing his diaper in a parking lot in Yucaipa in San Bernardino County.
But the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department — which quickly deployed police dogs and helicopters in a desperate search for the infant — revealed Saturday that Rebecca had stopped speaking with authorities after she was confronted with “inconsistencies” in her story.
This prompted the department to issue a chilling update to their search effort Saturday, saying investigators were “unable to rule out foul play in the disappearance of Emmanuel.”
It was against this backdrop that alarming details emerged about the criminal history of Emmanuel’s father Jake — who just last week pleaded with the alleged kidnapper on ABC7, “We just want him back … Keep him safe, don’t hurt him.”
Haro, 32, served six months in jail for willful child cruelty in 2023 stemming from an October 2018 incident in Hemet, California. The Haros have at least two other children, but it was not immediately clear who the victim was.
Jake Haro remains on probation from the felony conviction, but he has a hearing next month to determine if a pair of weapons charges he picked up last year will land him back behind bars.
Last June, Haro was busted in Banning and slapped with two charges for owning or possessing a firearm and ammunition as a “convicted felon and narcotic addict,” records state. He’s pleaded guilty to both new charges.
KTLA 5 reported Sunday that authorities have searched the couple’s home in Cabazon with cadaver dogs and have removed the couple’s 2-year-old child from the home.
The boy’s grandmother told the outlet she believes his parents are innocent, and that investigators were asking Rebecca to take a lie detector test, but that Jake refused without a lawyer present.
As questions about the couple swirled, Uvalde Foundation for Kids, which launched its own search effort and put up a $5,000 reward for information leading to Emmanuel’s safe return, withdrew its team members and called off the reward just a day after announcing it.
“We cannot in good conscience, utilize our team and resources when so much is missing in this case. Of particular concern to us lies within the inconsistencies in the details and the sudden decision by the mother to end communication with law enforcement and our team,” founder Daniel Chapin told The Register.
“Something is not right in this whole picture,” he added.
Authorities describe Emmanuel as 21 pounds and approximately 24 inches tall with brown hair, brown eyes and cross-eyed, last seen wearing a black Nike onesie.
Anyone with information about the infant’s whereabouts is being urged to call San Bernardino Sheriff’s Dispatch at 909-387-8313.
When asked by The Post about the nature of Rebecca Haro’s allegedly shifting stories as the search for baby Emmanuel unfolded, the sheriff’s department said those details were “part of the ongoing investigation and not available for release.”
Messages sent to phone numbers linked to Jake Haro were not returned.
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