Officials provided new details and strongly criticized a past judge during a Wednesday update into the investigation of Jake and Rebecca Haro, who are suspected of murder in the disappearance of their 7-month-old son Emmanuel.
During the morning news conference, Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin said they “have a pretty strong indication of where the remains of baby Emmanuel are,” and went after the judge in Jake Haro’s 2023 child abuse case for not sending him to prison.
“What we wanted out of the case was prison. We believed it was a prison case and that Jake Haro should have gone to prison. Jake Haro pled straight up to the court … In this case, a judge here in Riverside County, who happened to have been a visiting judge from San Bernardino County, gave Mr. Haro a suspended sentence,” Hestrin said.
The Haros, Jake, 32, and Rebecca, 41, residents of Cabazon were arrested Aug. 15 in connection with the disappearance and alleged death of Emmanuel Haro, their 7-month-old child. (SBCSD) 
Rebecca and Jake Haro appeared in a Riverside County courtroom Aug. 26, 2025. (KTLA) 
Rebecca and Jake Haro appeared in a Riverside County courtroom Aug. 26, 2025. (KTLA) 
Jake Haro, father of missing 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro, seen helping investigators search for the boys remains in Moreno Valley Aug. 24, 2025. (RMG News) 
A candlelight vigil was held by community members for Emmanuel Haro outside his Cabazon home on Aug. 22, 2025. (KTLA) 
Rebecca Haro was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearance of her 7-month-old son, Emmanuel Haro. Authorities surrdounded her Cabazon home on Aug. 22, 2025. (San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department) 
Jake Haro was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearance of his 7-month-old son, Emmanuel Haro. Authorities surrdounded his Cabazon home on Aug. 22, 2025. (San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department) 
Jake and Rebecca Haro at press availability where they pleaded for the son’s safe return. (KTLA) 
Emmanuel Haro was last seen on the 34000 block of Yucaipa Boulevard in Yucaipa before he went missing in a suspected kidnapping on Aug. 14, 2025. (KTLA) 
Emmanuel Haro, a missing 7-month-old baby from Yucaipa, is seen in an image provided by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
That child abuse case began with Jake Haro’s arrest in 2018 and involved his ex-wife and another child, who was also an infant. Haro and his wife at the time were prosecuted for child abuse, neglect and cruelty.
Hestrin said the judge essentially chose to give Jake Haro probation, which he described as an “outrageous” error in judgment. “I don’t have a problem saying that,” Hestrin said. “If that judge had done his job, which he should have done, Emmanuel would be alive today.”
Jake and Rebecca Haro were formally charged with murder and making a false report in connection with their son’s disappearance and presumed death on Tuesday as they were preparing for the first court appearance in Riverside County.
Rebecca Haro, 41, reported her son missing on Aug. 14 after she claimed Emmanuel was kidnapped from the parking lot of a Yucaipa Big 5 Sporting Goods during an assault that left her with a black eye.
In the days following the alleged kidnapping, investigators indicated that they noticed inconsistencies in her account of the events and said the couple was being uncooperative.
On Sunday, Jake Haro, 32, was seen in Moreno Valley assisting San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department detectives as they searched a remote stretch of the 60 Freeway near Gilman Springs Road for the child’s remains, but Emmanuel’s body has not been found.
Rebecca Haro has maintained her innocence while in custody, telling a group of reporters on Sunday that she isn’t giving up on her baby and that she wishes she were out searching for him.
Both parents are being held without bail.
