VISTA : Help Sought in Search for Toddler

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is seeking help in its search for a 4-year-old Vista boy who disappeared from his living room Wednesday while his mother was showering.

Gerardo Carillo Olvera’s mother waited until early Thursday morning to report the incident because she thought she knew who took him and that he would be returned, Sgt. Bill Southwell said.

“She did give us a few leads. However, those leads did not pan out, and we felt we needed the help of the public,” Southwell said. “I can only say that she had some information about a prior problem that made her think the child would be returned.”

Southwell said the names given to police were not family members. “We don’t think this is a family member abduction,” he said.

Gerardo’s mother told deputies she went into the bathroom to take a shower about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday and left the boy in the living room of their home on Pala Vista Drive. The door to the outside was locked, she said.

When she returned about 15 minutes later, the door was closed but not locked and Gerardo was gone, she said.

She checked the neighborhood, called relatives and contacted the Sheriff’s Department about 5 a.m. Thursday.

Gerardo is 3-foot-6 with brown hair and eyes. He was wearing blue pants and a blue shirt with a yellow bird on it when he disappeared, and he has a 1 1/2-inch scar on the left side of his forehead.