Two young children who went missing after their mother was found dead inside a Sacramento home last week may be in Southern California, authorities said.
Investigators suspect the children's father, Camron Lee, 38, may have left Athena Lee, who turns 4 this month, and Mateo Lee, 3, somewhere on the way to Mexico.
“We want everyone from Sacramento to the border to be on the lookout for these children,” said Officer Anthony Gamble, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department. “Ultimately, our main 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.
Meanwhile, investigators are trying to locate the children and speak with Lee, Gamble said.
Investigators have tried for days to locate Lee 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 hid the bruises from family members, he said in an interview. It's unclear whether the alleged abuse was ever reported to authorities.
Gil Bravo said his sister had previously lived in the Didcot Circle home with Lee, nicknamed “Major,” and their children. But the couple split 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 her feel like she was “tearing the family apart.”
“I was praying and praying and praying for her to get out of that situation for so long, and when she finally did, it was like, ‘Thank God, this is the beginning of her new life,’” Bodea told the paper.
In April, Sacramento County filed a case in family court naming Lee as a respondent to establish paternity, a step sometimes necessary to seek 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 had not 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 is believed to have been driving into Mexico. It's unclear if the children were with him at the time.
“We believe there is a possibility that those children were abandoned 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 during her high school graduation celebration, just two days before she died. Bravo said his sister was like a mother to him and his younger brother. She was always there to celebrate his accomplishments and encourage him to succeed, he said.
After graduating from high school, Angelica Bravo began a career as a hairdresser, which had long been her passion. She most recently worked as a cosmetology instructor at Sacramento Coeducational Institute, where she was known as Miss Angel. After her death, flowers and candles littered the sidewalk in front of the school.
“Love and JUSTICE for our Angel,” the school wrote in an Instagram post. “Please continue to share her story so that her babies can be found and JUSTICE CAN BE DONE! We love and miss you deeply, Miss Angel.”
Bravo's oldest daughter, Nathalia, 12, is devastated and struggling to understand her mother's death and the sudden loss of her siblings, Gil Bravo said.
“I learned a lot of lessons from Angelica and she guided me in the right direction,” he said. “I just want my niece and nephew to come back safe and sound. I know she would want me to protect them, so I just hope and pray that they are okay.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 808-0560 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at (916) 443-4357.
