California brothers, Orrin and Orson West have been missing for over a year and their adoptive parents have been arrested on suspicion of murdering the toddlers.
Trezell West, 35, and Jacqueline West, 32, were arrested by Bakersfield police on Tuesday and are currently in the Kern County Jail. Jail records show that they have both been charged with two counts of willful cruelty to a child, two counts of second-degree murder and making a false emergency reports.
Cynthia Zimmer, Kern County District Attorney said at a press conference on Wednesday: “This morning I'm saddened to announce that the investigation has revealed that Orrin and Orson West are deceased. The investigation has also revealed that they died three months before their adoptive parents reported them missing.”
The bodies of the brothers have not been found and Zimmer has declined to provide further details, pending their adoptive parents' criminal trial.
“This is not the outcome that we and so many others had hoped and prayed for,” said Bakersfield police Chief Chief Greg Terry.
The case shook up the small community of California City, a desert town in Kern County. Orrin and Orson went missing, not long before Christmas 2020 and were reported missing by the Wests on the evening of December 21, 2020. Their disappearance shocked both investigators and family alike.
At the time of their disappearance, both brothers were about 3 feet tall and weighed around 40 pounds. They were last spotted wearing black sweaters and dark-colored sweatpants.
