Sacramento teacher arrested after she allegedly hid missing 15-year-old boy for nearly two years
A Sacramento teacher has been arrested on suspicion of hiding a missing 15-year-old boy for nearly two years.
Holga Castillo Olivares, 61, a Sacramento City Unified School District employee, was arrested Thursday in the case of a Rancho Cordova teenager who was reported missing on June 9, 2020, according to a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office news release posted on Facebook. Olivares is listed as a second-grade teacher at Alice Birney Waldorf-Inspired K-8 School.
Olivares was arrested on suspicion of detention of a minor with the intent to conceal from a parent and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, authorities said. She is scheduled to appear Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court.
Authorities never found Kristin Smart’s body, an issue long considered a stumbling block in the case. She was declared legally dead in 2002.
The school didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Two years ago, police searched for the missing teen, whom The Times isn’t naming because he’s a minor, but they couldn’t find him, according to the release. The teen returned home on March 11, nearly two years later.
Katte Smith, the boy’s guardian, told KCRA-TV in Sacramento that the teenager ran away from home after a disagreement with family members.
“He ran away,” she said. “He felt the grass was greener on the other side.”
Relatives say social workers failed to heed warnings Sophia Mason was being abused by her mother and her mother’s boyfriend before she was found dead.
The boy told his family that he had been staying at the home of his childhood girlfriend, whose mother is Olivares, according to KCRA.
Detectives have asked anyone with more information related to the case to contact the Rancho Cordova Police Department at (916) 362-5115 or leave an anonymous tip at (916) 874-8477.
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