Police are asking the public for help in their search for a family of five that went missing recently from Sun Valley.
Department of Children and Family Services personnel alerted police Monday about the family’s disappearance amid a neglect and narcotics abuse investigation, the Los Angeles Police Department stated in a news release.
Authorities are searching for parents Luis Avalos and Arely Anaya, who apparently fled Sun Valley with their three children: 5-year-old King Anaya, 4-year-old Prince Anaya and 3-week-old Legend Avalos.
Investigators say that both Arely Anaya and Legend Avalos tested positive for cocaine on Dec. 2, the day that Legend was born.
DCFS was notified of the tests and contacted the parents several times throughout the first half of December.
The parents stopped responding to phone calls and no longer answered their door for DCFS when they became aware of plans to remove the children and place them in protective custody, the Police Department stated.
Neither the parents nor the children were located when police responded to the family’s home in the 8900 block of Haddon Avenue Monday.
Witnesses told investigators that the parents were worried about their children being taken away and left the home on Dec. 23, with a possible destination of Reno, Nevada.
The LAPD has released images of Luis Avalos and Arely Anaya in hopes the public can help locate them. No pictures of the children were available.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police Department at 818-756-8861. Those who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222- 8477.