Police have been searching a California landfill site for the body of a three-week-old baby after his parents were arrested in Utah. However, authorities have now confirmed that the search has been suspended.
The baby, Baki Dewees, was born on April 14 and has been missing from Palmdale, California since May. His great-aunt shared a missing person’s flier on Facebook, highlighting the family’s distress. The newborn was last seen with his father, 24-year-old Yusuf Dewees, who is currently in jail in Weber County, Utah, charged with obstruction of justice and making a false statement.
Baki’s mother, 25-year-old Roselani Gaoa, is also in custody on charges that include aggravated child abuse. It remains unclear whether either parent has entered a plea in response to these charges.
Authorities presume the baby, who has been missing for over ten days, to be dead. The police informed Fox 11 that they were searching for the boy’s remains in the Antelope Valley Landfill on Tuesday. In an update provided this evening, they announced that the search has been suspended. According to NBC News, the infant’s father is now a suspect in the death investigation.
A detective who spoke with Eyewitness News did not confirm whether the baby’s remains had been found or what evidence led them to believe the infant was deceased. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement explaining that the investigation had transitioned from a missing child search to a death investigation early on.
Sophia Paulo, the baby’s grandmother, expressed her profound grief, saying, “I can’t even cry anymore. I’ve been crying so much, I feel numb.” The family mentioned that the parents left last week without raising any suspicion. “They just left like normal. It was a normal day. There was nothing out of the blue,” said Paulo.
Brad Parke, Paulo’s longtime boyfriend, was at home when the couple left Palmdale and did not notice anything unusual. “He didn’t say anything. They were here,” Parke recounted, adding that the couple went to the Greyhound bus station without Baki. “It’s very sad. Never been in this situation in my life,” he said.
Two days after giving birth to Baki, Gaoa was arrested in Ogden, Utah, on suspicion of aggravated child abuse and other related charges, according to jail records. These charges are not related to Baki’s disappearance but rather to another case involving Baki’s older sister. Following Gaoa’s arrest, Dewees left Utah with the couple’s three other children and returned to California.
Dewees was arrested on May 7 on suspicion of obstruction of justice and making a false statement. The police urge anyone with information about the baby’s disappearance to contact homicide detectives at 323-890-5500.