Missing Since: 1987-02-02 Location: Los Angeles, California
Elias was last seen in Los Angeles, California on February 2, 1987. That day his mother, Maria Pacheco, took him for a routine well baby checkup at the LA-USC Medical Center in the 2000 block of Marengo Street. While they were in the pediatric clinic waiting room, a young woman struck up a friendly conversation with Pacheco, who was still recovering from her Caesarean section and could not walk well. Elias began to cry, and the woman offered to hold him while Pacheco left in search of baby formula for him. When Pacheco returned, both the woman and Elias were gone. The woman is described as Hispanic, about 5’0 to 5’2 tall and 135 to 140 pounds, with a medium-dark complexion and black hair frosted a lighter color. She was in her late twenties or early thirties in 1987, wore a yellow blouse, and is described as well-groomed. She has never been identified. A sketch of her is posted with this case summary. When police began investigating Elias’s abduction, they found a similar incident had occurred on January 14, two and a half weeks earlier, seventy miles away in Hesperia, California. A Hispanic woman matching the description of Elias’s abductor had approached a woman at a post office and asked to hold her baby. The baby’s mother declined, but when they reached the parking lot, the woman asked the mother again, and a male who was her apparent accomplice tried to pull the baby out of its mother’s arms. The mother was able to escape with her baby by running into a nearby store. Authorities were not able to confirm that the female suspect in the Hesperia incident was the same person who abducted Elias, but they think it’s highly probable. It’s possible that the person who abducted Elias took him in order to raise him as her own child, and that he is alive and does not know his true identity. His case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency Los Angeles Police Department 877-275-5273 Source Information The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The Los Times NamUs Updated 2 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated May 1, 2023; clothing/jewelry description updated.