San Jose police confirm father suspected of killing 3-year-old daughter who went missing
Police in San Jose on Tuesday released the grim news that the father of three-year-old Ellie Lorenzo, the young girl who went missing while in his custody last week, was suspected of killing the girl before he committed suicide.
Police in Fremont had issued an appeal for help from the public in finding the girl on Friday when her biological mother reported her missing after she learned that her father Jared Lorenzo was found dead in San Francisco.
According to the release issued by the San Jose Police Department Tuesday afternoon, at around 4:38 a.m. Saturday morning, patrol officers responded to a report of a suspicious circumstance at a recycling facility located in the 600 block of Charles Street. An employee called police to report finding a possibly deceased young female in the processing area of the facility. Arriving officers located a deceased three-year-old female victim who matched the description of Ellie.
The SJPD Homicide Unit took over the investigation into the circumstances of Ellie's death. On Monday, the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office positively identified the victim as Ellie. Police said the cause and manner of death is still under investigation and will be determined by the Coroner's Office pending a medical examination.
Detectives have determined Ellie was last seen alive with her father -- now identified as a suspect in her death -- at a residence in the city of Fremont Thursday evening. Detectives learned that Lorenzo and the girl then drove to his apartment in Fremont. On Friday, detectives discovered that Lorenzo left his Fremont apartment just after 6 a.m. and drove to San Jose, where he removed Ellie's body from the trunk of his vehicle and disposed of her in a trash receptacle.
Police said that receptacle was later unknowingly emptied by the garbage company and transferred to the Charles Street facility. Police said additional evidence suggested that Lorenzo drove to multiple neighboring Bay Area cities and finally stopped in the city of San Francisco, where he was found deceased shortly after 11 a.m. Friday. On Monday, San Jose police said Lorenzo had died in an apparent suicide.
Authorities said the motive and circumstances in the child's death remain under investigation. Police area investigating the incident as San Jose's 19th homicide of 2024.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Martinez #4117 and Detective Jorgensen #4090 of the San José Police Department's Homicide Unit via email: mailto:3829@sanjoseca.gov4117@sanjoseca.gov and/or 4090@sanjoseca.gov at 408-277-5283.
