Help Sought in Search for Mother Who Left Two Boys With Sitter

Police and county officials issued an appeal for help Thursday in their search for the missing mother of two small boys. The children, believed to be 3 and 5 years old, were left with a sitter on Aug. 20 and never claimed.

When asked if he had any message for his mother, the older boy, whose first name is believed to be Domendo, said in Spanish, “Come to look for me.”

Police said the baby sitter, who lives near the Los Angeles Convention Center, reports that the mother has been seen in the Westlake area. But investigators are “not sure the information she’s giving is actually describing the right person,” according to Detective Robert Thoreson of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division.

“The only thing we know for sure is that the two children were brought to our offices on the 22nd, and we have a description of the mother by the woman who watched the two kids,” Thoreson said.

According to that description, the mother is known as Doris or La Negra, is between 21 and 25 years old, 5 feet tall, weighs about 120 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes.

Thoreson said police and officials at the county’s Department of Children’s Services called the news conference to publicize the case after checks of driving, arrest and welfare records produced no leads.

Authorities are unsure why the children were abandoned. “It could be drug-related, it could be alcohol, the person could be incapacitated,” said Ray Lamotte, a spokeswoman for the department.

If the mother does claim the children, there will be a dependency hearing to determine whether she should keep them or whether they should be placed in another home.

In the meantime, Domendo and his brother, who is believed to be named Josito, are staying in a foster home. Lamotte said the two boys are physically and psychologically healthy, but lack certain social skills and have difficulty associating with their peers.

Ruben Vallejo, a social worker with the Department of Children’s Services, said, “It’s our goal to eventually reunite the family.”

Daily Occurrence

Dozens of children in the county are abandoned each week, Lamotte said, but in most cases a parent usually shows up within a few days. She said that about one abandoned child per month is not claimed for two weeks or longer. Criminal charges are usually not brought in such cases, Thoreson said.

Anyone with information about the two boys or their mother is asked to call Rampart Division detectives at (213) 485-2919.