The adoptive father of two young California boys who went missing last week said they were playing on a back porch when he went to gather firewood just before their disappearance.
Trezol West and his wife, Jacqueline West, reported 3-year-old Orson and 4-year-old Orrin West missing on Dec. 21 from their California City home. Trezol West told KGET-TV that the boys were playing around 5 p.m. when he walked to a back gate to gather the wood. His wife was inside the home wrapping presents, he said.
"I came in the house," he said. "I saw them there, went into the house, came back out, didn’t see them there."
He said he searched the neighborhood as well as the home and back yard before calling the police. In the days since, neighbors and dozens of residents have assisted in search efforts.
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Orson West and Orrin West
"Everybody’s concerned, almost everybody I run into that’s the first thing they say – ‘Have you heard anything about those babies?’" California City Mayor Jeanie O’Laughlin said.
Authorities have searched the couple's home and dug up the back yard. They said the adoptive parents have been cooperative and willingly came in for questioning and have stayed out of the home while police investigate.
The couple's four other children – two adopted and two biological – have been taken into protective custody. The Wests adopted Orrin and Orson in April 2019, the Mojave Desert News reported.
The boys' biological mother, Ryan Dean, arrived from Bakersfield to help with the search. In an interview last week, she told KERO-TV that she blamed the couple for the boys' disappearance.
"They did something," she said. "I feel like my kids are somewhere around here. I can feel it."
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"That's understandable. I would think the same thing," Trezol West responded. "That's exactly the point, and if we can find our babies ... that's all I want, is to find our babies."
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