Mother found dead in Sacramento identified; police look for kids, say father’s car in Mexico
Detectives are investigating the death of woman whose body was found Monday evening at her North Sacramento home and are searching for her two missing children, who police said were with their father before the three disappeared.
Officers were called just before 7:30 p.m. Monday to the 3700 block of Didcot Circle in the Oak Knoll neighborhood after a caller sought medical aid, according to the Sacramento Police Department. Officer Anthony Gamble, a Sacramento police spokesman, said the woman’s friends had alerted authorities to check on her.
A woman was found unresponsive in a bathtub, according to archived audio dispatch calls reviewed by The Sacramento Bee. Dispatchers categorized the call as either a domestic violence incident or to investigate a dead body.
Medics from the Sacramento Fire Department pronounced the woman dead at the scene, and homicide detectives arrived at the home to begin a death investigation, police said.
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office identified the mother as Angelica Marie Bravo, 28.
How Bravo died is unclear. The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office has classified the death as “undetermined” until a further autopsy has concluded.
Investigators also have been unable to find the children and their father. Athena Lee, 4, and Mateo Lee, 2, are missing with their father, Camron Lee, 38. He was driving a gray 2023 Honda Passport. Police said they learned on Tuesday that the vehicle was spotted on U.S. Customs and Border Protection surveillance video driving south into Mexico.
‘We don’t know where the kids are’
When asked whether the father had any form of custody for his children, Gamble said he could not release those details because they were part of an active investigation. He also declined to discuss whether family members told police about any dispute or estrangement between the mother and Camron Lee.
Gamble did say that other family members told police that they last saw the missing children on Saturday, two days before their mother was found dead.
“We don’t know where the kids are,” Gamble said in a Wednesday morning news conference.
Gamble said they do not know where Camron Lee is, and they do not know if the children are still with him or if he dropped them off somewhere along the way. He said the Police Department was working with federal authorities to help find the father, but investigators were urging anyone who knew where the children were to notify authorities.
“Locating the kids right now is our number one priority,” Gamble said. “So what we will be doing as a Police Department is using every resource available, and we’re going to be working with every partner agency we can, from federal, state and local agencies.”
Gamble said the woman’s death has not been confirmed to be a homicide, because investigators are still trying to determine the cause of her death.
“It may change to a homicide investigation. It may stay a death investigation,” Gamble told news reporters. “We just don’t have that information. What’s concerning right now is that these kids are nowhere to be found. And (the) dad hasn’t called us, (the) dad hasn’t reached out to us.
“We believe the kids to be with him or at least have been with him at some point.”
Police want to talk to children’s father
Investigators also have stopped short of calling Lee a suspect in the woman’s death.
“Detectives would like to speak with Camron (Lee) regarding the whereabouts of the children,” police officials said in a news release Tuesday night and again outside the department’s Freeport Boulevard headquarters.
Gamble said the Police Department was unable to ask the California Highway Patrol to issue an Amber Alert because the vehicle Camron Lee is believed to be driving had already been spotted crossing the border.
The Police Department alerted news media about the death investigation and the missing children 24 hours after woman’s body was found. The police spokesman said they decided to release that information after investigators determined the children were missing.
“Initially, we were there doing a death investigation,” Gamble said. “Detectives didn’t know if there was a crime that was committed, and that’s why that information wasn’t put out there.”
He said the children’s information has been entered into the missing persons database and shared with the U.S. Department of Justice. Officers also asked the FBI to share that information within its agency and with authorities in Mexico.
“We’re asking the community to please if you know anything, if you’ve seen anything, if you’ve heard anything, if you locate these kids to please contact us,” Gamble said Wednesday. “Anything you think that maybe small may prove instrumental in our investigation.”
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Police Department at 916-808-0560 or the Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a $1,000 reward. Officers also encouraged tips via an email address: missingpersons@pd.cityofsacramento.org.
