Law enforcement on Tuesday identified the dead body found in a Merced home last week as 8-year-old Sophia Mason, who had been missing since March 8.
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Police had been searching for Mason since she was reported missing from her Hayward home on Tuesday, March 8. During their investigation, authorities arrested Mason's mother, 31-year-old Samantha Johnson, in Newark, on suspicion of murder, corporal injury and obstructing an officer's investigation.
Later that week, police executed a search warrant at Johnson's boyfriend's home in Merced, and found a deceased child inside the residence. The Merced County Sheriff's Coroner on Tuesday identified the child as Mason, but did not released a cause of death.
Investigators have also issued an arrest warrant for Johnson's boyfriend, 34-year-old Dhante Jackson, on suspicion of murder.
Officials continue to search for Jackson, who they said "went on the run" when he heard his home was being searched. Police said Jackson is currently evading arrest and is known to frequent the Bay Area.
Merced police ask anyone with further information to call detective John Pinnegar at 209-388-7712 or email him at pinnegarj@cityofmerced.org.
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