Father Arrested in Case of LA County Girl Missing for a Week

Jeffery Chao (C) speaks at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles on July 23, 2024. (NTD/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

The father of a 15-year-old girl who was safely found on July 23, a week after she went missing in the Monterey Park area east of Los Angeles, was arrested July 26, authorities said.

The Monterey Park Police Department arrested 40-year-old Jeffery Chao around 10:30 a.m. on suspicion of child abduction, conspiracy, and falsifying a police report.

No further details were released by the police force, which said the incident is still under investigation.

“The Monterey Park Police Department Investigations Bureau is still currently investigating this incident and has no further comment at this time,” the police force said in a July 26 statement.

According to jail records, Mr. Chao will appear in Alhambra Municipal Court on July 29 at 8 a.m.

The arrest raised further questions about the girl’s weeklong disappearance, which prompted a citywide search that gained widespread attention on social media and among news outlets.

The girl’s parents are undergoing a divorce and custody dispute. According to Emily Robinson, Alison’s family court-appointed attorney, the mother has been granted sole authority over the girl’s mental health decisions and sole physical custody.

She was scheduled to be sent to her mother, Annie Chao, on July 17—the day after she went missing—when Ms. Chao was to assume physical custody, according to a statement from her mother posted on Instagram. Previously, she had been living with her father.

“Alison is a young girl and her feelings about my divorce from her father are understandably complicated, but she has a family that loves and adores her,” Ms. Chao said Tuesday in a statement. “She is incredibly talented, intelligent, and loving.”

Previous Press Conference

Alison was found safe on Tuesday near KABC-TV’s office in Glendale, about 16 miles from her father’s home in Monterey Park, where she had gone missing on July 16.

During a press conference shortly after Alison was found, Mr. Chao’s attorney, Jose Romero, said a security guard saw the girl walking and noticed that she was being trailed by a car, whose driver recognized her as the missing girl and promptly notified the Glendale Police Department.

He said it was believed Alison was trying to make a statement to the media.

Additionally, Mr. Romero said that police records showed no signs of foul play or immediate threats to the girl and that she “left on her own accord on her bicycle.”

Alison Jillian Chao, 15, who went missing from the Monterey Park area a week ago was found safe in Glendale, Calif., on July 23, 2024. (Courtesy of Help Find Alison)

At the time, Mr. Chao expressed gratitude for her daughter being found.

“We have been really worried about where she’s been, and you know, really appreciate what everybody’s done and helped out with,” he said.

Alison’s mother, Annie Chao, shared her appreciation separately.

“I am incredibly relieved that Alison has been found safe. Alison is my only child, and she means everything to me,” Ms. Chao said in a statement Tuesday shared with The Epoch Times. “I understand that there was a good Samaritan who helped to escort her to the police, and I specifically want to thank that person for their kindness.”