Police locate missing Santa Rosa 2-year-old girl

A toddler went missing for several hours Wednesday after a fight between her mother, another woman and a 17-year-old girl broke out in southwest Santa Rosa, police said.

Santa Rosa officers found the girl, 2, safe with family members later that day. A male relative had taken the girl with him after the fight began, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Jeneane Kucker said.

“She was safe with relatives the entire time,” Kucker said.

The toddler’s mother, Shaylene Marruffo, 20, and the other woman, Esmeralda Velazquez, 18, both of Santa Rosa, were arrested at about 2:30 a.m. after they crashed into parked cars in the area of Orville Drive and Yeager Street, police said.

Marruffo alerted officers that her toddler was missing while being booked into the Sonoma County Jail, hours ?after the arrest, Kucker said.

Police started looking for the toddler before dawn and issued a public notice and photo of the missing girl later that day.

Police said they believe the women and 17-year-old were drinking nearby earlier that morning in front of a car when the fight broke out. Both small children, as well as the teen’s boyfriend and Marruffo’s relative, were present. Officers didn’t know what started the fight or how the group’s members knew each other.

“The fight started and the two suspects ganged up on the 17-year-old,” Kucker said. “(They) started cutting her hair off with scissors.”

The teen was stabbed with the scissors, Kucker said. Marruffo and Velazquez then tried to drive away with the teen and her baby against their will. Police didn’t know if the teen’s boyfriend, Roberto Estrada Durante, 20, of Santa Rosa, was in the car at that time.

Officers found the 17-year-old girl running away from the crash site, holding her 1-year-old baby. Both were taken to a local hospital, where medical staff determined the baby was uninjured.

Marruffo and Velazquez were booked into jail on suspicion of kidnapping, child endangerment and driving under the influence. Velazquez also faces an additional assault with a deadly weapon charge because he is suspected of stabbing the 17-year-old girl with the scissors, Kucker said.

Estrada Durante was booked on suspicion of child endangerment.

The 17-year-old girl may also face child endangerment charges if the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office decides to file charges against her, Kucker said.