Family of Missing Girl Asks for Help

The mother of a missing Altadena girl said Friday that the girl’s father had been behaving strangely for about a year before he disappeared with the 11-year-old; he was found dead this week in Northern California, apparently a suicide victim.

Nothing has been heard from Jeanene Bonner, and investigators in Butte County and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported no progress in finding her Friday.

Kim Almodovar, Jeanene’s mother, told a news conference at Loma Alta Elementary School, which her daughter attends, that the father had seemed depressed, separated himself from friends, was taking drugs and had grown temperamental with Jeanene in the last year. Joaquin Garcia, 35, was a Downey truck driver.

Still, she said, he had often taken his daughter with him over the last year and returned her more or less on time.

Garcia picked up his daughter May 21, and she was supposed to have returned to school May 24.

A huge signed poster and yellow ribbons at the school made it clear that Jeanene, described as a sixth-grade honor student, is missed by students and teachers.

Her father’s pickup truck, with his body inside, was found Wednesday in Butte County, about 100 miles north of Sacramento.

He had a gun in his right hand, and had apparently killed himself, authorities said.

There was no sign of the girl, and a search of nearby areas was fruitless.

Jeanene’s uncle, Henry Bonner of North Hollywood, wept Friday as he joined her mother in appealing for public help in finding her.

“She’s a really bright girl, so I know, if she was able to get to a phone or to make a call, she would do it,” he said.

The family released new pictures of the girl and said missing children’s groups, such as the Polly Klass Foundation, are helping publicize the case.