Their mother was found dead inside their father’s Sacramento home. Now two children are missing
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Two young children who went missing after their mother was found dead inside a Sacramento home last week could be in Southern California, authorities said.
Investigators suspect the children’s father, 38-year-old Camron Lee, may have dropped off Athena Lee, who turns 4 this month, and 3-year-old Mateo Lee somewhere on his way to Mexico.
“We want everyone from Sacramento to the border to keep an eye out for these kids,” said Officer Anthony Gamble, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department. “Ultimately, our No. 1 concern right now is locating these children.”
Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on July 8, officers responding to a medical call found the children’s mother, Angelica Marie Bravo, 28, dead inside Lee’s home on Didcot Circle in north Sacramento. Bravo was found in a bathtub, according to the Sacramento Bee. Authorities are still trying to determine how she died.
In the meantime, investigators are trying to locate the children and speak with Lee, Gamble said.
Dejaune Anderson was charged with murder in the death of her son, whose body was found in a suitcase in 2022. She went on the run, hiding in North Hollywood for a year.
Investigators have tried to reach Lee for days without success. Authorities have not characterized him as a suspect or person of interest in Bravo’s death.
Bravo’s 18-year-old brother, Gil, described his sister’s relationship with Lee as “on and off” and said he was abusive and controlling. She would hide bruises from family members, he said in an interview. It is not clear whether the alleged abuse was ever reported to law enforcement.
Gil Bravo said his sister had previously lived in the house on Didcot Circle with Lee, who goes by the nickname “Major,” and their children. But the pair broke up late last year and she moved out, he said.
Angelica Bravo’s mother, Dawn Bodea, told the Bee that her daughter said leaving the relationship made it feel like she was “tearing the family apart.”
“I had been praying and praying and praying that she would get out of that situation for so long, and when she finally got out, it was like, ‘Thank God, this is the start of her new life’,” Bodea told the newspaper.
In April, Sacramento County filed a case in family law court listing Lee as the respondent to establish paternity — a sometimes necessary step to pursue child support in cases where the parents are not married. Additional details about that case were not immediately available.
Gil Bravo said he believes the children could be in the San Diego area because Lee had mentioned having friends there. But Gamble said investigators hadn’t yet narrowed their search to a specific county.
Last week, authorities learned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection cameras had captured the gray 2023 Honda Passport that Lee was believed to be driving toward Mexico. It is not clear whether the children were with him at the time.
“We believe there’s a potential that those kids were dropped off somewhere in Southern California,” Gamble said, declining to provide additional details because the investigation was ongoing.
The last time Gil Bravo saw his sister was while celebrating his high school graduation just two days before she died. Bravo said his sister was like a mother to him and their younger brother. She was always there to celebrate his accomplishments and push him to succeed, he said.
A 3-year-old missing girl was found dead at a San José recycling center, not long after her father was found dead in another part of the Bay Area.
After her graduation from high school, Angelica Bravo began a career as a hairstylist, which had long been a passion of hers. She worked most recently as a cosmetology instructor at the Mixed Institute in Sacramento, where she was known as Miss Angel. After her death, flowers and candles covered the sidewalk outside the school.
“Love and JUSTICE for our Angel,” the school wrote in an Instagram post. “Continue to share her story so that her babies are found and JUSTICE IS SERVED! We love and miss you deeply Miss Angel.”
Bravo’s oldest daughter, 12-year-old Nathalia, is devastated and struggling to comprehend her mother’s death and the sudden loss of her siblings, Gil Bravo said.
“I learned so many lessons from Angelica and she guided me down the right path,” he said. “I just want my niece and nephew back safe. I know she would want me to protect them so I’m just hoping and praying they’re OK.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 808-0560 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at (916) 443-4357.
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