LAPD Searching For Family That Vanished After Baby Tested Positive For Cocaine

A family of five has gone missing from Los Angeles, days after the couple’s three-week-old baby tested positive for cocaine. A statement by police said they were searching for Luis Avalos and Arely Anaya who were reported missing with their three children.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) alerted them Monday to report an investigation connected to "general neglect and narcotics abuse involving three children," reported KTLA 5.

Avalos and Anaya reportedly fled Sun Valley with their three children: King Anaya, 5, Prince Anaya, 4, and 3-week-old Legend Avalos.

The mother and infant both tested positive for cocaine use on Dec. 2, the day the baby was born. Subsequently, the DCFS was notified of the tests and contacted the parents several times throughout the first half of December, reports said.

However, both Avalos and Anaya stopped responding to phone calls once they became aware of the DCFS plans to remove the children and place them in protective custody.

The organization informed LAPD Foothill Juvenile Detectives of their intention to put the children in custody and issue an arrest warrant for Anaya and Avalos.

Officers who arrived at their home in the 8900 block of Haddon Avenue on Monday failed to locate neither the parents nor the children.

According to witnesses, the couple was worried about their children being taken away. They left the home two days before Christmas, with a possible destination of Reno, Nevada.

The department has requested that any leads about the family’s whereabouts be reported to authorities by calling (818)-756-8861 and 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247) on weekends.

The LAPD has also released images of Luis Avalos and Arely Anaya in hopes the public can help locate them. No pictures of the children were available.

Recently, a Texas woman was jailed after her two newborn daughters tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamine. Sharissea Dawn Young pleaded guilty to child endangerment while admitting to using drugs while pregnant.

Police were alerted by Family and Protective Services after the woman tested positive for marijuana and meth. A hair follicle test of her two daughters showed one was positive for cocaine and the other for meth. Young was placed on five years probation on the two counts she pleaded to.