Police on Wednesday sought the public's help to find a father and the two children he's accused of abducting more than nine years ago after picking them up from the mother with whom he shared custody of the children.
The case started Oct. 21, 2007, when Griselda Gonzalez Flores brought her two toddlers to the Ontario Police Department to exchange custody with her estranged husband, Francisco Flores, Ontario Police Lt. David McBride said in a news release.
Francisco was to take the children, Tammy Flores, then 3, and Diego Flores, then 2, for a week before returning them to their mother, per a court custody order, officials said.
When Griselda tried to call Francisco to check on the children the next day, the call did not go through. Several attempts to reach him through the week also failed. When Francisco failed to return the children on the agreed-upon date, a police report was issued and a warrant was issued for his arrest, authorities said.
Detectives learned that Francisco secretly refinanced his home and sold his car for more than $100,000 in cash. But his and the children's whereabouts were not known.
He's described as 6 feet tall and weighing 210 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. He has a mole on each cheek and under his nose.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has prepared age-progression photographs of Tammy Flores (age progressed to 9 years old) and Diego Flores (age progressed to 7 years old).
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Ontario Police Detective Jeff Crittenden at 909-395-2734 or Ontario Police Detective Byron Lee at 909-395-2746.
