Calif. Parents Are Accused of Abuse — Then Police Realize Other Daughter Hasn't Been Seen in Years
Kaya Centeno, who would now be 18, was last seen as a second grader and allegedly withdrew to be homeschooled
California authorities are searching for a teen girl missing for eight to 10 years, after they learned of her disappearance while investigating allegations of child abuse by her adoptive parents.
Kaya Centeno's siblings -- a brother, now 15, and sister, now 17 -- told police that Kaya, who would have turned 18 on May 23, went missing from the family's Rohnert Park home between 2010 and 2012, coinciding with the start of alleged ongoing emotional, sexual and physical abuse inflicted on the children by the parents, Gina and Jose Centeno, who had adopted all three children in 2008, police said in a news release.
Police allege they found evidence to corroborate the abuse claims and arrested Gina, 50, and Jose Centeno, 53, on August 19 for aggravated kidnapping, citing the parents' move with the children to Mexico about 18 months earlier.
Sonoma County jail records reviewed by PEOPLE show the couple has since been booked on numerous charges, including nine felony charges against Jose alleging sexual abuse of the 17-year-old girl, who is identified as Jane Doe No. 1 in a 14-count complaint filed Aug. 20 in Sonoma County Superior Court, reports the Press Democrat.
The couple is being held without bond, according to jail records. It was not immediately clear if they'd entered pleas or retained attorneys to speak on their behalf.