Abducted two years ago, California boy, 5, found undernourished

By Michael Martinez, CNN

March 9, 2011 -- Updated 0555 GMT (1355 HKT)

Ausar Allah-El and Serenity Sol-El are in custody in New Orleans on charges related to their son's 2009 abduction.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Authorities: The family had been living in the New Orleans area most recently
• The parents allegedly abducted their son after losing custody
• Father is found panhandling on the street

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A 5-year-old California boy, missing for two years after his parents lost custody and then allegedly abducted him, was found undernourished and weighing 38 pounds, Los Angeles County authorities said Tuesday.
The boy, tracked down Friday, was returned Saturday evening to the custody of his maternal grandparents in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, about 40 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.
The boy was undernourished and had other medical conditions, authorities said.
"He is beginning to adjust to living in a normal environment," Deputy U.S. Marshal David Dominguez said in a statement. Although doctors say the boy's recovery will take a while, he should thrive with proper medical attention, Dominguez said.
The boy is already scheduled to attend school and is getting his appetite back, authorities said.
His parents, Ausar Allah-El and Serenity Sol-El, are in custody in New Orleans on charges related to the alleged 2009 child abduction, with bail set at $100,000, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Captain Mike Parker said in a statement.
Extradition to Los Angeles County is being sought by sheriff's investigators, Parker said.
The boy was abducted from a Carson, California, child care center on April 25, 2009, when he was 3 years old and in the custody of his maternal grandparents, authorities said. For the past two years, the boy and his parents were apparently living on the streets, Parker said.
"It seemed as though (the boy) and his parents had disappeared without a trace for almost two years," Parker said in a statement.
The parents had lost custody of their son after Los Angeles County officials made "repeated attempts" to help the parents care for their son and found the boy suffering "from numerous medical conditions that could have been prevented with the proper care and medication," the statement said.
"His parents refused to provide the child with necessary medical appointments, dental exams, occupational therapists and ophthalmology appointments," the statement said.
Asked why the parents allegedly did this, Parker said, "Apparently, they have some type of belief that affects what they feed him and what type of medical care that they will allow him to receive."
Then, on February 20, a National Park Services police officer noticed "something odd" about a man panhandling in Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, and as the officer interviewed the man, the panhandler texted someone on his cell phone, Parker said in a statement.
A warrants check revealed the man to be the boy's father, who was wanted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for child abduction, according to authorities.
After the father was in custody, he indicated he had been with his wife and child, and U.S. Marshals authorities searched for them for two weeks, Parker said.
The mother and son had been staying with her friends and acquaintances in the New Orleans area, and authorities apprehended her and the boy following a surveillance, Parker said.

The family of three had been living there for at least a year, though the couple may not have been living together most recently, Parker said.

 

RELATED TOPICS

• Missing Children
• Kidnapping
• Los Angeles