Federal and local authorities are searching for an 18-year-old North Bay woman who went missing when she was a young girl, a report that was discovered only after Rohnert Park police began investigating a couple suspected of abusing two children, according to police.
Kaya Centeno hasn't been seen or heard from for about 8-10 years, according to her younger sibilings, a 17-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy, who told investigators about their missing sister while being interviewed last month in the child abuse case against their adoptive parents, Gina and Jose Centeno of Rohnert Park, police said.
The children had been brought back from Mexico, where the Centenos took them about 18 months ago to live with extended family, police said. Upon interviewing the children, there were allegations of emotional, sexual and physical abuse that had occurred over an eight- to 10-year span, and a reference was made about their older "sister" Kaya who lived with them in Rohnert Park, police said.
The Centenos adopted Kaya and her two siblings in 2008, police said. Kaya, who may be going by the alias Kaya Whitney Kazzee, attended John Reed School in Rohnert Park but was removed during the 2010-2011 school year to be home schooled.
Detectives obtained search warrants for the Centenos' Rohnert Park home and found evidence to corroborate the victims' statements about abuse. Gina and Jose Centeno were arrested, and each is being held in Sonoma County jail on $18 million bail.
Rohnert Park detectives are working with the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to locate Kaya.
Local
Anyone with information related to the whereabouts of Kaya Centeno or Kaya Kazzee should call the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety at 707-584-2612.
