Missing 2 California Boys Believed to Be Dead; Adoptive Parents Charged With Murdering Them

By Jess Smith First Posted: Mar 03, 2022 05:34 AM EST

The adoptive parents of two young California boys reported missing in December 2020 have been charged with murdering them.

According to prosecutors, Trezell West, 35, and Jacqueline West, 32, killed their adopted sons Orrin and Orson three months before reporting them missing.

In a press conference in Bakersfield, California on Wednesday, Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said the pair was arrested Tuesday night on murder and other charges in an indictment returned by a grand jury, who heard testimony from 50 witnesses in three months.

Zimmer noted that direct and circumstantial evidence was presented, and the grand jury believed that the boys were already dead even though the bodies had yet to be found, Daily Mail reported.

"I would like to emphasize that the fact that law enforcement has not found their bodies does not preclude a murder prosecution," the district attorney said.

She added that "there have been many, hundreds, of what we call no-body homicides prosecuted across the United States successfully."

Police Arrest the Adoptive Parents of 2 California Boys

Bakersfield police arrested the couple at around 7 p.m. Tuesday. Cynthia Zimmer said they were charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of child abuse, and one count of a false report in an emergency.

The district attorney noted that each of the defendants could face 30 years to life in prison if convicted of both counts of murder, CNN reported.

Zimmer said the pair would be arraigned in Kern County Superior Court Thursday. It was still unclear whether the Wests had legal representation.

The Missing California Boys

According to Cynthia Zimmer, Trezell West, and Jacqueline West told police on December 21, 2020 that Orson, then 3, and Orrin, then 4, had disappeared from the family's backyard.

The district attorney said police and volunteers from the community searched but were unsuccessful. In the early days of the search, the couple spoke to reporters and pleaded to the public to help them in finding the boys.

Trezell earlier said he saw the boys playing in their backyard while he was moving firewood, and his wife was wrapping Christmas gifts inside the house.

After he went into the house and came back outside, he said he did not see the boys and realized that he "left the gate open."

Trezell noted that he got into his van to search for the boys on the street. He said he came home and told his wife they needed to call the police after he could not find the boys.

In a December 2020 briefing, a reporter said the boys' biological mother thinks that the adoptive parents were involved. Trezell replied, "That's understandable. I would think the same thing."

Zimmer has declined to detail the information that led authorities to believe the Wests killed the California boys in September 2020. She said she was not permitted to reveal any facts of the case until the trial.

The couple has two other adopted children and two biological children, all in child protective services custody now.

Rosanna Wills, the boys' biological cousin, said she was devastated by the news that Orrin and Orson were believed to be dead. Wills noted that the biological mother could not even talk and cried after hearing the tragic news.

The California boys' aunt, Kiki Hoard, told KBAK that officials must bring the boys' bodies home first for them to have a proper burial.

"We're not going to have closure until they bring the babies home so we can have a proper burial," Hoard noted.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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