California Teacher Arrested For Allegedly Hiding Missing Teen For Nearly Two Years

A teacher in California is accused of hiding a teenager who had been missing for nearly two years.

Back in March, after going missing for almost two years, 17-year-old Michael Ramirez showed up at his family home. Katte Smith, Ramirez’s legal guardian and aunt, said the teen took off from home after getting into an argument with his parents and never came back, NBC News reports. He was 15 at the time.

On June 9, 2020, authorities launched a search for the teen. However, the search ended without finding Ramirez. But on March 11, 2022, the teen “inexplicably” came back home. Come to find out, Ramirez had been staying with the mother of a childhood girlfriend, 61-year-old Holga Castillo Olivares.

Olivares has now been charged with detaining a minor with the intent to conceal from a parent and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, NBC News reports. She’s set to appear in court over Ramirez’s disappearance.

“You can’t just hide someone’s kid and think that’s OK,” Smith told KCRA. Olivares, who worked as a second-grade teacher the Alice Birney Public Waldorf school in the Sacramento City Unified School District, has been placed on administrative leave as the investigation into her involvement continues. She’s since been released from jail.