A California teacher is accused of hiding a missing teen who disappeared more than two years ago and reappeared at his family’s home in March, authorities said last week.
Holga Castillo Olivares, 61, was due to appear in court Monday for the June 17, 2020, disappearance of Michael Ramirez, Rancho Cordova police said in a statement.
Olivares is charged with detaining a minor with intent to hide it from a parent and aiding the delinquency of a minor, the department said.
Ramirez’ aunt and legal guardian, Katte Smith, told NBC affiliate KCRA that he ran away after an argument with his parents and never came back.
Ramirez was 15 at the time.
an extensive search launched after June 9 of the teen disappearance could not find him, the department said. Nearly two years later, on March 11, he “inexplicably” returned home, the department said.
KCRA reported that he had been staying at the house of Olivares – the mother of a childhood friend – the entire time.
“You can’t just hide someone’s child and think that’s okay,” Smith told the station.
Police identified Olivares as an employee of the Alice Birney Public Waldorf School in Sacramento City’s Unified School District.
She is listed as a second grade teacher on the school’s website.
A school district spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to KCRA, the district said Olivares has been placed on administrative leave while it investigates the allegations.
The statement described the alleged crimes as “unrelated” to Olivares’ assigned duties and said she was taken into custody after her students were fired for a day.
Prison records show that Olivares was released from prison on Monday. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful and it was not immediately clear whether she has a lawyer to speak on her behalf.