STRANGE SAGA

Teacher Hid ‘Missing’ Boy in Her Home for Two Years, Police Say

The boy, then 15, was reported missing in June 2020. His family didn’t see him again until March 2022, when cops say he “inexplicably” returned home.

A California public school teacher has been arrested after police say she hid a teenager who had been reported missing for two years, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said.

Holga Castillo Olivares, 61, faces charges of detention of a minor with the intent to conceal from a parent(s) and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, police said.

Olivares is described as a teacher at the Alice Birney Waldorf-Inspired K-8 School, though the boy she is accused of sheltering does not appear to have been her student at the time cops say she hid him. According to Katte Smith, the boy’s guardian, Olivares is the mother of one of his friends, KCRA reports.

The bizarre saga began in May 2020, when the then-15-year-old reportedly left his home after an argument. Police say he was reported missing that June. Then, in March 2022, he suddenly returned and asked to move back home.

Olivares has been placed on administrative leave by the school district pending an investigation, KCRA reported. She was still in police custody as of Saturday evening and ineligible for bail, according to jail records. Her next court date was scheduled for Monday. It was not immediately clear if she had hired a lawyer.

“You can’t just hide someone’s kid and think that’s okay,” Smith said.

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