Rebecca Haro claims she was knocked unconscious outside a shop when ‘kidnappers’ took baby Emmanuel. But now police have raised ‘inconsistencies’ as she refuses to take a polygraph test
Seven-month-old Emmanuel Haro was ‘kidnapped’ in attack outside store, according to his mum
Disturbing details have emerged in the mysterious disappearance of a nine-month-old baby as police desperately try to track his whereabouts.
Missing tot Emmanuel Haro vanished last Thursday in Yucaipa, California and has not been seen since. His mum Rebecca Haro alleges that her baby was kidnapped in a car park, but police have pointed to “inconsistencies” in her account.
But she’s now gone dark on detectives, leaving authorities with very little information about Emmanuel’s last-known movements.
Rebecca claimed she was changing the little boy’s nappy on the backseat of her car outside a Big 5 store when she was allegedly knocked unconscious from behind and woke up to find the baby gone. “I noticed a smell from my baby so I wanted to change him before going into the store,” she told NBC LA.
Emmanuel’s mother Rebecca has claimed she was attacked prior to his disappearance
“I took him out of the car seat and I 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.”
It has since emerged that Rebecca has refused to take a polygraph test, which her lawyer says was because of emotional distress.
“No attorney in their right mind would allow that to happen, and no person should ever consent to a lie detector test when it’s not even scientifically proven to be admissible in court,” attorney Vincent Hughes told The LA Times.
Emmanuel has been missing for a week
He added: “The fact of the matter remains: How does a normal person act in this situation? […] How does anyone act when their 7-month-old baby magically disappears?”
Investigators are continuing to probe the boy’s parents, interviewing relatives and searching the couple’s Cabazon home on Sunday.
It has also emerged that Emmanuel’s father, Jacob ‘Jake’ Haro, has a criminal history of child abuse charges. Court records show he was convicted of willful child cruelty in 2023 following a case in which his infant daughter with a previous spouse suffered multiple severe injuries, including a skull fracture, brain hemorrhage, and broken ribs.
Rebecca Haro has refused to take a polygraph test
Both Jake and his then-wife, Vanessa Avina, pleaded guilty. Jake was sentenced to 180 days in a sheriff’s work-release program and ordered into a child abuser treatment program.
Doctors who treated the child in that case said that the injuries were “indicative of abuse head trauma, child physical abuse and nutritional neglect.”
Investigators have since seized the car of Emmanuel’s dad after finding “inconsistencies” in the parents’ story, authorities said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department took Haro’s vehicle on Tuesday, with deputies also searching the couple’s Cabazon home, KTLA reported.
Jake, the baby’s father told local media when little Emmanuel vanished: “He was a happy baby. He was crawling. He was kicking. He was playing with his toys. Whoever took our son, please give him back.”
Detectives said the Haros initially cooperated – handing over their phones and allowing a search of their home – but later stopped working with investigators.
Emmanuel was last seen wearing a black onesie, and despite extensive searches, deputies are yet to locate him. “At this point in the investigation, investigators are unable to rule out foul play in the disappearance of Emmanuel,” police said.
