LOS ANGELES (AP) – Detectives searched through the early Thursday morning hours for a missing Southern California family as relatives pleaded for the couple’s four young sons to be safely returned.
Montebello police Lt. Kelly Gordon said there was still no communication with the family, and the children’s father, Daniel Perez, remains a person of interest. Investigators found a Honda Accord belonging to the couple with the body of a dead woman in the trunk about a half-mile from their Montebello home Wednesday.
The body had not been identified Thursday. An official with the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said no details could be released because the case is on a security hold by the Montebello police.
The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert Thursday stating the children were “taken by their biological father.” The alert identifies the children as Jordan, 11, Jaiden, 9, Tristin, 8, and Alex, 6, and asks motorists to be on the lookout for the 2014 black Toyota Camry with a California license plate of 7FDS891 their father was last seen driving.
“We are concerned and we are proceeding appropriately,” Gordon said.
In a tearful press conference Wednesday night, relatives begged for the children to be brought back.
“You’re breaking our heart,” Pamela Valdez, the children’s aunt, said. “Please don’t hurt the kids, please.”
The family has not been heard from since Friday, and neither adult had been answering their phone. Relatives told police the couple’s marriage was unstable and that there was a history of domestic violence.
Montebello is located about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.