Above: Johanna Gomez | California Highway Patrol
A San Benito County woman has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping after allegedly abducting her three children, of whom she does not have custody, according to police.
On the morning of April 30, an officer responded to a home on the 100 block of Hawkins Street where the children’s father lives. The officer learned that 35-year-old Johanna Gomez had unlawfully entered the home and taken the children — ages 5, 7, and 8.
The same officer had in fact spoken with Gomez the previous day, during which she’d reportedly made several statements that prompted concern for the state of her mental health. Police say she’d also left documents at the house that exacerbated these concerns, though they’ve not specified what the statements or documents were.
Police nonetheless had the information on the vehicle Gomez had fled in and, believing she may me headed to a relative’s home in Lathrop, issued a BOLO alert to authorities in the area.
Around 4 PM, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office followed up to report that they’d found Gomez and the children, unharmed, at the address provided. The children have since been reunited with their father.
Gomez is set to be booked at the San Benito County Jail on suspicion of multiple felony charges, including parental abduction, and burglary.
