Child's Body Found in California Home of Man Dating Mother of Missing Girl, Police Say

Dennis Romero of NBC News wrote:Police are searching for a California man after the body of a child was found in his Central Valley home, authorities said Saturday.

The body was found Thursday in Dhante Jackson's residence in Merced, police from the cities of Merced and Hayward said in separate statements.

Jackson is the boyfriend of a woman whose 8-year-old daughter, Sophia Mason, was reported missing Tuesday.

Two separate probes have been launched into Sophia's case: one in Merced, where Jackson lived, and the other in the Bay Area, where a relative reported concern for the child's wellbeing and whereabouts to Hayward police.

Following the relative's request for help Tuesday, officers twice visited Jackson’s home in Merced in their search for Sophia and her mother, Samantha Johnson, but no one answered the door, Hayward police said.

Johnson was taken into custody Thursday. After her arrest, Hayward police said they received information that “re-confirmed” Jackson’s residence as a probable location for Sophia.

A body was discovered when Merced authorities went back to the residence, police from both departments said.

Johnson faces a murder charge connected to Sophia's case, Merced police said. She has also been jailed on charges of obstruction of an officer's investigation and corporal injury to a child, Santa Rita jail records show.

Johnson was also the subject of a child abuse investigation in 2021, and has an active warrant from the case, Merced police said.

A murder warrant has been issued for Jackson, Merced police said.

It wasn't clear if Johnson or Jackson had legal representation. The public defender's office in Merced did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Melonie Verlatti, who said she has known Sophia since she was born, told NBC Bay Area the discovery of a body in the case prompted "just complete and total shock."

"So hard to believe,” she said.

The Merced County coroner will determine the identification and cause of death.

Madeline Shannon of the Merced Sun-Star wrote:

Merced police have issued a murder warrant for the arrest of a suspect following the recent discovery of a child’s body inside a home. Police are searching for Dhante Jackson, 34, who lived at the home in the 500 block of Barclay Way, where Merced police found the child’s body on Friday. Jackson went on the run shortly after news spread of his house being searched, police said in a news release.

Although police have not confirmed the identity of the body that was found, news of the discovery happened just after officers said they were searching for 8-year-old Sophia Mason. Earlier on Friday, Merced police said they were notified Sophia Mason was missing by officers from the Hayward Police Department.

Merced police Detective Sgt. Kalvin Haygood said the child has family in Hayward, and they originally reported her missing. Sophia Mason had been last seen on Feb. 10.

Hayward Police Department took the child’s mother, 30-year-old Samantha Johnson of Merced, into custody, but Johnson’s daughter was not with her, police said.

During their investigation, Johnson was arrested by Hayward police after a warrant was issued stemming from a child abuse incident in Alameda County last year, the release said.

Merced police met with Johnson at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Johnson told Merced police about the Barclay Way residence in Merced, where the body was found.

Police say Jackson, who is wanted, is known to frequent the San Francisco Bay Area.

NEIGHBORS ‘NEVER THOUGHT IT COULD HAPPEN’ HERE

Several neighbors on Barclay Way expressed shock and sadness something like this could happen, particularly in an area with relatively new, single-family homes in north Merced.

“It’s so sad,” said Ayra Agluba, a student at UC Merced who lives nearby. “It’s terrifying. Little kids walk and bike around here. We’re near an elementary school, and we didn’t know that kind of stuff was happening to little kids.”

Many neighbors said they either hadn’t seen the child and her mother in a long time, or had never seen the mother.

Some said the girl would come up to homes to say hello by herself. Others had thought the house where the body was found has always been empty.

“The funny thing is, I haven’t seen them in a while. I thought the house was vacant,” said Bella Prado, a neighbor who has talked to Sophia Mason.

“There’s been a lot of people who have come and gone, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

Prado said she thinks her dog, who sometimes gets out of the house, might have known something was suspicious.

She said in the last week he would get out of the house at times, run to the house where the body was found and start barking at the door.

“These little pets know when something is going on,” Prado said. “I thought he was just barking because there was another dog there.”

Prado said the last time she saw the girl was around Valentine’s Day. Prado said the child approached her when she was working in her garage, and asked her what she was doing.

“She said, ‘Where’s your dog?’” Prado said. “That was the last time I saw her. This is very, very shocking and it gives me the chills.”

Anyone with information about the case or Jackson’s whereabouts can call Detective John Pinnegar at 209-388-7712 or write to pinnegarj@cityofmerced.org.

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