Police are still searching for 4 year-old Ricardo Lara of Denton after his mother was found murdered last weekend.
As of Monday evening, Denton Police Officer Shane Kizer said the Amber Alert remained in effect for the missing boy.
In a release to the media, Kizer said the department had received a number of leads that have assisted in the search, but so far, the boy still hadn’t been located.
Officers strongly believe Lara is with his father, 23 year-old Ricardo Martinez, who they have also been unable to locate since the boy’s mother was found dead.
On Saturday, the body of 27 year-old Maria Isabel Romero Medina was found at her place of work, Sanchez Insurance and Tax in Denton, where a customer attempted to enter but found the door locked during normal business hours. That customer called an employee, who arrived and opened the door to find Medina dead inside.
On Monday, family and friends kept the business closed as the placed a memorial to the mother on the door, as well as a poster asking for assistance in finding the boy and his father.
Family members told NBC 5 that they don’t think Martinez would hurt Lara, but that they had little contact with him before Medina’s murder and want the boy home safe.
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Police in Denton are working with the FBI and Texas Rangers to find the boy and get him home safely. They ask that anyone with information call them immediately.
At this point, they are still calling Martinez a person of interest in Medina’s death.
Family members say Medina’s parents are on the way to Denton from California at which point they will make memorial plans.
