The Riverside County District Attorney's Office filed charges against Jake Mitchell and Rebecca Haro for the murder of Emmanuel, their seven-month-old baby, whom his own parents had falsely reported as kidnapped.

It was on August 14, when the couple reported to the police that the infant was kidnapped in Yucaipa, a city in San Bernardino County, just over 72 miles from Los Angeles.

Her mother said she was attacked in the parking lot of the Big 5 grocery store in Yucaipa before 8 p.m. while changing the baby's diaper. The attack, she said, left her unconscious. When she regained consciousness, the child was gone.

According to her statements in television interviews, where she appeared with a black bruise over her eye, she never saw her attacker.

“I took him (the baby) out of the car seat and laid him down to get his diapers ready. Someone said, 'Hi.' That's all I remember. I saw white, fell to the ground, and as soon as I got up, my son was gone. I searched my entire truck,” she said in an interview with Eyewitness News.

When detectives with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department began to find inconsistencies in her story and confronted the 41-year-old mother, she ended the interview with investigators. Meanwhile, Jake, 32, stopped cooperating with police and has found a lawyer.

The couple was arrested on suspicion of murder after authorities said they presume the baby is dead.

Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Jake was seen Saturday helping investigators search for the child’s remains in the westbound lanes of the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley.

Both parents face charges of murder and false reports for fabricating a kidnapping and assault that didn’t happen. Because Jake was convicted in 2023 of intentional cruelty against his youngest daughter from a previous relationship, prosecutors are also seeking to invoke Evidence Code Section 1109, which allows evidence that a defendant has committed past acts of abuse to prove a pattern of conduct.

When Jake Haro pleaded guilty to physical abuse in 2023, the judge suspended his prison sentence and ordered him to serve 180 days of probation under a work release program, which the Riverside County District Attorney's Office opposed.

In the case of baby Emmanuel, District Attorney Mike Hestrin said at a news conference in Riverside that evidence shows he suffered ongoing abuse that ultimately took his life.

“Our office is committed to ensuring justice is served for this child and that his short life is not forgotten,” he said.

Court documents obtained by KTLA indicate investigators believe Emmanuel may have died as many as nine days before Rebecca reported the alleged abduction on August 14, around August 5.

There are also unconfirmed reports that the mother was seen inside the same shoe and sporting goods store days before told police that Emmanuel had been kidnapped, asking if there were surveillance cameras in the building because his vehicle was vandalized in the parking lot.

The couple's arraignment hearing was postponed at the request of the defense to 8:30 a.m. on September 4 in Department 61 of the Riverside Courthouse.

The couple remains in custody with bail set at $1 million. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant County Attorney Brandon Smith and remains under active investigation.

The Attorney General's Office encourages anyone with information related to the case to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit at 909-890-4904.

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