Los Angeles family of five missing amid child neglect probe; newborn tested positive for cocaine, police say

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Police were looking for a Los Angeles family of five Monday that disappeared amid a child neglect and drug investigation after the couple's 3-week-old child tested positive for cocaine. 

The Los Angeles Police Department said Arely Anaya and Luis Avalos, the parents of a newborn, a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old may have fled to Reno, Nevada last week, according to witnesses. 

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Luis Avalos     (LAPD)

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services contacted the LAPD on Monday to advise the department about a drug and child neglect investigation involving the children. 

Arely Anaya and the newborn who was born on Dec. 2, both tested positive for cocaine, prompting the notification to DCFS. 

The agency unsuccessfully tried contacting the parents several times throughout the first half of December, the LAPD said. 

Arely Anaya (LAPD)

"The parents were made aware of DCFS intention to remove the children from the home and place them in protective custody," police said. "The parents no longer responded to phone calls, nor answered their door for DCFS."

Social workers notified the police that they were seeking a court order to place the children in protective custody and an arrest warrant for the parents. 

When police officers visited the family home in the San Fernando Valley, they weren't there. 

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"Witnesses advised they were aware of the DCFS investigation and knew the parents were worried their children would be taken away," the LAPD said.