EVERETT, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The search for a missing Everett toddler has come to a tragic end, and the child’s mother has been charged with murder.
WSP issued an Amber Alert and an Endangered Missing Person Alert Thursday afternoon on March 28 for 4-year-old Ariel Garcia. Less than 10 minutes later, police outside of Everett located a body believed to be Ariel’s.
Everett Police say the child was last seen Wednesday morning and may have been with a family member at the time of his disappearance.
Police initially said a vehicle of interest, a Nissan Sentra with Washington plates, was impounded in Clark County on Wednesday. That vehicle was later identified as Ariel’s mother’s – Janet Garcia.
On Friday, Everett Police said on their website that members of the department’s Violent Crime Unit arrested Janet in Vancouver, WA for First- and Second-Degree Murder as well as First Degree Assault of a Child, with the assistance of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). They say Janet was a person of interest and her whereabouts were known early on in the investigation.
According to a press release, Garcia gave false and misleading information to CCSO’s deputies mere hours after Ariel was reported missing on Wednesday. She was booked into Snohomish County Jail for $5 million bail.
