Law-enforcement officers from Sutter County to the Bay Area have gathered in Knights Landing today in a desperate search for a 3-week old baby boy who vanished two days ago.
Justice Rees was reported missing Monday along with his mother, 22-year-old Samantha Green of Woodland, who surfaced Tuesday evening amid heavy brush along Ridge Cut Slough, a waterway that runs south of the usually tranquil Yolo County town.
The baby, however, was nowhere to be seen.
“There was a search ongoing all throughout the night,” Yolo County Sheriff’s Capt. Dale Johnson said this morning. “We definitely believe the baby’s in this area.”
Johnson said the mother and son hadn’t been seen for about a day when a Knights Landing resident “came across a female that was disheveled, disoriented, screaming,” at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The resident called 911. Sheriff’s deputies who responded to the scene confirmed the woman was Green, who told the officers her baby was somewhere in the slough area.
Green was later transported to Woodland Memorial Hospital for evaluation and treatment of injuries consistent with having walked through the thickets that border the slough, Johnson said.
A vehicle belonging to Green’s boyfriend’s family was found on the west side of town, an infant safety seat still strapped inside. Searchers scoured the Knights Landing area on foot, all-terrain vehicle and by boat, and plan to continue the effort today.
“We’re still treating this as a rescue until we learn otherwise,” Johnson said. “It’s a sad situation, but we hope it ends up being good news.”
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene