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UPDATE: Mother, baby found safe in California

Published 12:30 pm Monday, August 26, 2019

By Herald Staff

UPDATE: Mother, baby found safe in California
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UPDATE: Mother, baby found safe in California
Chiara Harkness, 1, has brown eyes and black hair, is 2 feet tall, weighs 20-25 pounds and has a birth defect on unknown toe that is bent under the foot. She was last seen wearing a blue flower dress. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Patrol)
Gabriela Harkness, 22, has brown eyes, brown hair, is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Patrol)
David Merino, 30, has brown eyes, black hair, stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and weighs 180 pounds. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Patrol)
Gabriela and Chiara Harkness may be with David Merino in a white 2016 Volkswagen GTI with California license plate 7RYB200. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Patrol)

UPDATE 8:27 a.m. Aug. 27, 2019: Gabriela Harkness and her 1-year-old daughter, Chiara Harkness, were found safe at their home in California by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. They had apparently returned home voluntarily.

MILL CREEK — Police from Mill Creek have activated an endangered missing person alert with the Washington State Patrol for a mother and her baby who left under unexplained and suspicious circumstances Monday.

Gabriela Harkness and her 1-year-old daughter, Chiara Harkness, were reported missing from Gabriela’s parents’ home in the Highlands neighborhood of Mill Creek around 7:20 a.m., Mill Creek police reported in a press release.

They may have left with David Merino, Chiara’s father, police said. Merino has recently made attempts to contact and meet the mother and daughter, and there is a history of domestic violence, which led to a protection order against Merino, police said.

The suspect may be driving a 2016 Volkswagen white GTI, with California license plate 7RYB200.

Chiara has brown eyes and black hair. She was last seen wearing a blue flowery dress.

Gabriela Harkness, 22, has brown hair, brown eyes and is 5 foot, 9 and 115 pounds.

Merino, 30, has brown eyes, black hair and is 5 foot, 9 and weighs about 180 pounds.

No other details were immediately available.

Anyone who sees them or has information that can help find them is asked to call 911.

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