Authorities said last week that a California teacher is accused of hiding a missing teen who went missing more than two years ago and reappeared at his family’s home in March.
The Rancho Cordova Police Department said in a statement that Holga Castillo Olivares, 61, was scheduled to appear in court Monday in connection with the June 2020 disappearance of Michael Ramirez, who is now 17.
According to the department, Olivares faces charges of detaining a minor with the intent to conceal from a parent and contributing to a minor’s delinquency.
Katte Smith, Ramirez’s aunt and legal guardian, told NBC affiliate KCRA that Ramirez ran away after an argument with his parents and never returned. Ramirez was 15 years old at the time.
The department said an extensive search launched after the teen’s disappearance on June 9 had failed to find him. On March 11, nearly two years later, he “inexplicably” returned home, according to the department.
According to KCRA, he spent the entire time at the home of Olivares, the mother of a childhood girlfriend.
“You can’t just hide someone’s child and think everything is fine,” Smith told the station.
The police department identified Olivares as an employee of the Sacramento City Unified School District’s Alice Birney Public Waldorf School.
According to the school’s website, she teaches second grade.
A spokesperson for the school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The district said in a statement to KCRA that Olivares has been placed on administrative leave while the district investigates the allegations.
The alleged crimes were “unrelated” to Olivares’ assigned duties, according to the statement, and she was arrested after her students were dismissed for the day.
According to jail records, Olivares was released on Monday. Attempts to contact her were unsuccessful, and it was unclear whether she has a lawyer speaking on her behalf.
