According to authorities, Merced police discovered an adolescent girl’s body Friday afternoon while serving a search warrant at home linked to the disappearance of an 8-year-old girl named Sophia Mason.
Dhante Jackson, 34, the boyfriend of 30-year-old Hayward’s mother, Samantha Johnson, has been arrested by Merced Police.
After investigators discovered a child’s body inside the Central Valley home where Samantha and her daughter, Sophia Mason, were staying, both are facing murder charges.
Hayward CA: Sophia Mason Missing Case Update
According to information provided by both departments, Hayward police reached out to Merced police on Friday to ask for assistance in an investigation into the whereabouts of 8-year-old Sophia Mason.
According to Lt. Joey Perez, a Merced police spokesman, investigators are unsure whether the body is Sophia’s and hope to make an identification within a few days.
According to authorities, Sophia Mason, a Merced resident, was last seen in December and reported missing to Hayward police on Tuesday.
Mason was described by Verlatti, Sophia’s cousin, as a bubbly and playful 8-year-old girl who adored her adoptive grandmother, Sylvia Johnson. She spent the majority of her life raising Mason.
Melissa Harris, Verlatti’s sister, said the child spoke with Sylvia on the phone two weeks ago.
Several red flags were raised over the years, according to the family, and pleas for help from authorities and Child Protective Services went unanswered.
Where Is Mom Samantha Johnson- Is She In Jail?
On Saturday, Merced police announced that they had arrested a Hayward mother on suspicion of murder in the death of her 8-year-old daughter, Sophia Mason, who had been missing since December.
Samantha Johnson, 30, was arrested for a prior child abuse incident last year, and police said they interviewed her in Santa Rita Jail on Friday evening after she was arrested.
Samantha was adopted by Sylvia when she was a child. Her family claimed she suffered from mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
She would appear out of nowhere and take her daughter without warning over the years. She’d go missing for weeks or months at a time, completely cutting off all communication.
Detectives in Merced asked her about a child’s body found in a home on Barclay Way on Friday, according to police.
Johnson was eventually arrested on a murder charge, according to police. She’ll be taken to the Merced County Jail, as that’s where the child’s body was discovered.
On Saturday, attempts to contact Johnson, who is in custody, were unsuccessful.
Where Is Samantha Johnson Boyfriend Dhante Johnson Now?
According to police, Johnson’s boyfriend, Dhante Jackson, 34, lives in the house.
Samantha led police to her boyfriend’s home in Merced during the investigation into her child’s disappearance.
According to Merced Police, Jackson went on the run shortly after word got out that his home was being searched. For the charge of murder, a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He is well-known in the Bay Area.