A 45-year-old Tulare woman was arrested in a San Bernardino hotel after a child reported missing from a Joshua Tree home was found safe, according to a local report of the sheriff’s account. Deputies identified the woman as Rebecca Centeno and said she had no custodial rights to the child she is accused of taking from the home.
In its account of the investigation, Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree reported that deputies were called to the 62400 block of Crestview Drive on October 1. Investigators said Centeno, the mother of children living in the home, arrived and tried to contact the resident and several children. Deputies said she then reached through a back window and took one of the children.
Father Lost His Grip — and His Phone — During the Struggle
The father tried to pull the child back during the confrontation but lost his hold, according to the deputies’ account relayed by the station. Centeno allegedly took his cellphone and left with the child in a vehicle. The reported reach through a window does not by itself establish residential burglary: California Penal Code Section 459 covers entry into a building, room, locked vehicle or structure with the required criminal intent. The Shouse Law Group explains that reaching through an open or unlocked window can constitute entry, but the required intent must also be established. First-degree residential burglary carries a maximum sentence of six years in state prison.
The reported taking of the father’s phone also does not, on its own, establish robbery. Under California Penal Code Section 211, prosecutors would have to prove a taking against the person’s will through force or fear, as explained in the Shouse Law Group's analysis of the statute. The analysis says robbery can carry a state prison sentence of up to nine years; the value of the property does not determine whether the offense’s elements are met.
Specialized Unit Tracks Suspect Vehicle to San Bernardino
Deputies located the suspect vehicle at a hotel in San Bernardino.
Who patrols Joshua Tree?
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department lists Joshua Tree among the communities served by its Morongo Basin Patrol Station. The station’s area also includes the incorporated communities of Twenty-nine Palms and the Town of Yucca Valley, as well as unincorporated communities including Morongo Valley, Landers, Johnson Valley, Wonder Valley, Pioneertown, Amboy, Cadiz and Flamingo Heights, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The Sheriff's Specialized Enforcement Division, which functions as the department's full-time tactical and SWAT unit handling high-risk warrants and fugitive apprehensions, made contact with Centeno in the hotel room and took her into custody. The child was rescued safely and reunited with the custodial parent, the station's report states.
Booking and Charges
Centeno was arrested on suspicion of burglary, robbery and violating a court order, and was booked into Central Valley Jail before being released on bail, according to the station’s account. The article also raises California Penal Code Section 278.5, which the linked Eisner Gorin LLP analysis describes as covering maliciously taking or concealing a child to deprive a legal custodian of court-ordered rights, where the accused has lawful custody or visitation rights. That description makes the statute’s fit unclear given deputies’ reported claim that Centeno had no custodial rights. The account does not say whether prosecutors will pursue a charge under that section.
A Pattern Seen Nationally in Family Abduction Cases
Cases like this one reflect a broader national pattern. Family abductions made up just 4.1 percent of all missing child reports in 2023 but accounted for 59 percent of AMBER Alerts issued that year nationwide, according to data from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Academic research compiled by The Journalist's Resource found that parents commit more than 90 percent of relative child abductions, with mothers or other female relatives responsible for 60 percent of those cases nationwide. NCMEC separately reported in May that it supported 32,167 missing child cases in 2025, with an overall recovery rate of 90 percent.
