Monterey County authorities are searching for a 38-year-old man and his 14-year-old daughter. Police believe he is the father of the newborn girl whose body was found on a rural road last month.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued arrest warrants on Monday for Sergio Galvez Perez, who comes from the Salinas and Castroville areas, and for his daughter, whose identity hasn’t been released due to her age.
Perez is charged with suspected incest, statutory rape, sexual intercourse with a minor, lewd acts with a child, child concealment, and child endangerment. The teenager is charged with suspected murder.
According to investigators, Perez impregnated the girl when she was 13.
The baby’s body was found by deputies in the morning hours of Aug. 1 on the 100 block of Struve Road, near Highway 1 north of Moss Landing. Firefighters declared the baby dead on the spot.
Investigators claim that the girl had her baby on a rural road and abandoned it. The postmortem examination showed signs of traumatic injury and that the infant was still connected to the umbilical cord.
The child was nicknamed “Baby Angelita” (or “Baby Angel” in Spanish).
According to Sheriff Tina Nieto during a press conference on Monday, Perez is the biological father of the teenager and the infant. She claims that detectives believe Perez is hiding the girl and obstructing the investigation. Nieto asked him to “turn himself in.”
Sheriff Nieto emphasized that although the girl is a suspect in this case, she is the victim of sexual abuse by her father. Authorities claim they are concerned about her safety while she is with him.
The wife of Perez, 36-year-old Ofelia Garcia Ortega of Castroville, was arrested for child endangerment. She was booked into Monterey County Jail and then posted bail.
The breakthrough came when Flock license plate reader cameras found the car owned by Perez and Ortega. As Chief Deputy Eric Bixler stated, “we may have never solved that case” without the help of this technology, adding that this technology helped solve the case much quicker than it would normally take years.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office claims Perez is involved in a musical group and released additional pictures of him performing publicly, hoping someone in the community can recognize him.
Perez and his daughter are still at large as of Monday evening.
