Missing California girl, 14, found hidden in closet; 3 people arrested

CALAVERAS COUNTY, Calif. — A 14-year-old California girl who had been missing for a week was found hiding in a closet Friday after police discovered a trapdoor leading to an improvised sleeping area under a Calaveras County home, authorities said.

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The girl, identified as Kaylee, was found “deep within the corners of two adjoining closets,” according to a news release from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office. The girl had gone to the home southeast of Sacramento to stay with a friend and had been reported missing by her parents when she did not return, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The girl was “intentionally hiding amongst densely hanging clothes,” the sheriff’s office said. Authorities discovered a trapdoor leading to a makeshift sleeping area, KCRA reported.

The discovery led to the arrest of Isaiah Haggard, 20, of West Point, and his mother, Annie Pearl Abernathy, 41, of West Point, according to the news release. They were charged with felony child endangerment, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to a peace officer, according to court records. Bail was set at $20,000 apiece, according to the Times.

Another man, Jose Tinocopureco, 34, of West Point, was arrested on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to a peace officer, the newspaper reported. He has since been released from custody.

Kaylee was reported missing on Oct. 22, after leaving a friend’s house in West Point, the sheriff’s office said. She left the house before her mother arrived to pick her up, KCRA reported.

The sheriff’s office opened a missing person investigation, which included talking to the girl’s friends and monitoring her social media.

Deputies interviewed Abernathy, Haggard and Tinocopureco, the latter of whom was a tenant in the house, Sgt. Greg Stark told the Times.

“Occupants at the residence told deputies that (the girl) had left and was last observed walking down the driveway,” the sheriff’s office release stated.

Detectives spoke with Haggard about the girl’s whereabouts.

“Due to Haggard’s deliberate distortion of the facts and fabrication of his involvement in Kaylee’s disappearance, in addition to false statements by his co-conspirators; he was not originally listed as a suspect,” the sheriff’s office said. “Detectives were eventually able to disprove his original statements as an intentional misrepresentation of the facts.”

The girl spoke with deputies and did not need medical attention, Stark told the Times. It was unclear why the teen was in the closet, but authorities said she was “intentionally hiding.”

“I don’t think it matters what she was doing,” Stark told the newspaper. “The suspects in this case failed her at every turn. They could have gotten her help. ... They took advantage of a 14-year-old girl.”

Cox Media Group