CAL CITY, CAlif. (KERO) — It's been over a month since two toddlers, aged three and four, disappeared from a California City home. After several search parties and an ongoing police investigation, there is still very little known about what happened the day Orrin and Orson West went missing.
According to Trezell and Jacqueline West, the adoptive parents of 3-year-old Orson and 4-year-old Orrin, the boys were in the backyard playing at their California City home, when they were last seen on Dec. 21. However, Trezell told 23ABC that one minute he saw them on the patio and the next they were gone.
Cal City Police said there are no suspects in the case yet, however they told 23ABC that several people have been questioned and asked to take a lie detector test.
Police did not disclose all the individuals asked to take a test, but California City Police Chief Jon Walker confirmed that authorities asked the adoptive parents of the missing brothers to take a lie detector test, the day after the boys were reported missing. Walker did not confirm whether the parents took or denied the test.
The community and several investigative agencies are hard at work searching for answers. Several search parties were conducted throughout Kern County and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a case for the West boys.
Even a licensed private investigator from San Diego spent time investigating the case.
In the search for those answers, here's what authorities have done so far in the case, according to Walker.
- Excavated the parents' backyard, to make sure the boys weren't buried underneath
- Used search dogs which found the scent of the boys inside the home, but not outside as they were reported to be before disappearing
- Used cadaver dogs inside the home -- no scent of human remains detected.
- Search warrants used to collect items from the home, including adoptive parents' cell phones, iPads and other electronic devices. Phones have since been returned.
- Adoptive parents van tested with luminol - no indication of blood found.
- Spoke to neighbors in the area. No positive ID of any of the West's 6 children. Walker says the family only moved to California City in September. They previously lived in Bakersfield.
- Searched adoptive parents previous properties in Bakersfield
- Searched former Saddle Ranch Resort property
