A 7-year-old Santa Monica boy who sparked an endangered missing alert after leaving with his father has been found safe and brought back to his family, according to Santa Monica police. Detectives located King Darius Lozada in Hawthorne on Tuesday and took his father, 55-year-old Darius Clay Jackson, into custody without incident. Police said King was unharmed and has since been reunited with relatives.
How the search began
Santa Monica police issued an endangered missing advisory after King was last seen at about 6:50 p.m. Tuesday in an alley near Arizona Avenue and Berkeley Street. He may have been riding a black electric scooter at the time, according to the Los Angeles Times. Local outlets reported that officers believed Jackson might be experiencing a mental-health crisis and warned that the child could be at risk, urging anyone who spotted the pair to call 911.
Recovery and arrest
SMPD detectives later tracked King to Hawthorne, where they found him and reunited him with family, and took Jackson into custody without incident, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. Investigators told the paper the incident stemmed from a child custody dispute and said no further information would be released. The Daily Press reported that Santa Monica police also thanked community members and partner agencies for sharing tips during the search.
Police response and public notice
Before King was found, police alerts circulated descriptions of the boy as about 4 feet tall and 85 pounds, possibly wearing a dark blue sweatshirt and light blue sweatpants. Jackson was described as about 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, as reported by NBC Los Angeles. Authorities stressed the importance of quick reporting when a child may be at risk and asked the public to contact 911 with any sightings.
Family abductions and custody disputes
Cases in which a parent removes a child in violation of custody rights are typically treated as family abductions and handled urgently by law enforcement, with federal research outlining definitions and urging rapid responses in such situations, according to the National Institute of Justice. Anyone with information about this case was asked to call 911; for non-emergencies, the Santa Monica Police Department lists its non-emergency dispatch number on its website.
