Police are asking for the public’s help in the search for missing toddler twins — whose parents are in custody and refusing to cooperate with investigators.
CBS News reports that police had been searching for Aaron Weddles, Princess Canez-Walker, and the couple’s five children since January 4, when the family was reported missing and likely to be transient.
Police reportedly found the couple and three of their children — a four-year-old girl and two-year-old twin girls — on January 9 in Stockton, California, but have not located 20-month-old twins Setina and Ren. The parents were arrested and charged with child endangerment and child neglect. They are reportedly refusing to cooperate with authorities, who do not have any photos of the infant twins.
According to a news release from the Stockton Police Department, Canez-Walker and Weddles are accused of forcing their children to live in a car in deplorable conditions. Police reportedly found drugs, knives, a machete, an ax and suspected mold in the 2002 Suzuki the family had been living in.
The suspects reportedly had a court appearance on Tuesday for unrelated charges: Weddles is facing drug charges, and Canez-Walker is charged with vandalism. According to KTXL, Canez-Walker’s ex-husband Richard Walker was present, and noticed that the couple smiled at each other when they both arrived to the courtroom.
“To me, that was disgusting, you know, due to the situation,” Walker told KTXL.
“I really think that there’s been some foul play,” he added.
Walker’s children with Canez-Walker are reportedly in custody of Child Protective Services. He told the news station that when his ex-wife had custody of the children, he would go for long periods without knowing where they were.
Stockton Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the discovery of the infant twins. The twins are a boy and a girl, and they are reportedly a mix of Cambodian and African-American.
Anyone with information about the possible whereabouts of the children is urged to call Stockton police at (209) 937-8323 or (209) 937-7911 after hours.
[Feature image: San Joaquin County Jail/Aaron Weddles, Princess Canez-Walker]
