Bring Josiah Home

On Tuesday, June 26, 2022, 2-year old, Josiah Anthony Felix-Martin was at his second, 4-hour, court ordered, supervised visitation with his biological Mother, Lesitte Monique Felix. Lesitte does not have any parental rights due to mitigating circumstances that cannot be shared publicly due HIPAA.

On the second visit, Jarred’s Dad came along with them. Normally, Jarred would wait outside for Josiah until the visit was over. During this visit, Jarred took his Dad to get something to eat for lunch as there were 2 hours to go between lunch and the visit ending. Jarred didn’t want to leave except he had his Dad with him, who needed something to eat and drink after a long drive from La Mirada to Bakersfield. Only being gone approximately 15 minutes, when they returned to the house, Lesitte, her parents, and Josiah were GONE! A family member of Lesitte’s who was still inside the home, refused to disclose where Josiah was, and if Lesitte and her parents were coming back. After calling their cell phones and realizing all were turned off, Jarred immediately contacted 9-11 to get help from the Bakersfield authorities (BPD).

Jarred Martin has had sole, physical custody of Josiah for the last 18 months as ordered by the courts. During this time, Josiah has had no contact with his Mother (she did not attempt to contact either) which wasn’t surprising considering she abducted Josiah in April 2020 in Los Angeles County from his home that his Mother, Lesitte was only visiting. Luckily they were quickly found, however, it was dismissed and no charges were filed.

Despite this incident and other mitigating circumstances, on June 1, 2020, she asked for visitation and was granted “supervised”, biweekly visitations (up to 4 hours). With the conditions that her Father, Tiburcio Felix Perez or another designated person (approved by Jarred), be present during the visitations and that she did not take Josiah outside of Kern County. Since the first visit went as planned, and no bad history between Jarred and Lesitte’s parents, he agreed when the judge, appointing Tiburcio to supservise the visits.

On the day of this visit and the one prior, Jarred did not see any red flags or feel concerned about Josiah being taken. Their ”plan” worked and they violated the court order by taking Josiah out of Kern County, leaving the state of California and into Mexico. Despite an APB/BOLO being sent to port authorities, Lesitte and her parents were allowed to cross over into Mexico with Josiah without being stopped or questioned.Despite meeting the Amber Alert criteria and Lesitte violating the court order (breaking the law), the Kern County District Attorney’s office did not launch an Amber Alert at BPD’s request. Supposedly this was due to the fact that at the time of abduction, it was considered a “custody case” and they did not take the mitigating circumstances into account. They wanted to wait and see if she would come back willingly as it was probably just a “misunderstanding”. Clearly it was not.

Per the advice of Jarred’s attorney and law enforcement, we have been advised to not disclose certain specifics that could interfere with the investigation and jeopardize Josiah being found.

As permitted, we will disclose additional information to the public as soon as possible to keep light on Josiah’s case.Status updates will be shared via Facebook, Instagram and TikTok via the handle and hashtag #bringjosiahhome

If you see Lesitte and/or Josiah, please DO NOT attempt to make contact or make any rescue attempts without the assistance of authorities. This is not only for your safety but for Josiah’s as well. Please contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678) or the Bakersfield Police Department at (661) [phone redacted] with any information.

Tips, media inquiries, and other information requests can also be sent via message on social media or emailed to [email redacted].

We are actively working around the clock to find Josiah and desperately raise funds to cover the ever-growing legal fees, travel expenses, and the other necessary expenses that come along with this type of case. Without financial assistance, it will make it more difficult to bring Josiah home.

All funds donated to this fundraiser will be used by #teamjosiah to assist Josiah’s Dad in covering his legal fees and all expenses pertaining to bringing Josiah home. We understand that many are not in a position to help us financially, but you can still help in other ways — distribute flyers, share our posts and videos, place a poster on your vehicle….so many ways you can help yo bring Josiah home!

Be sure to LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE @bringjosiahhome on social media and include the hashtag #bringjosiahhome on any social media posts.

Anyone with ANY information can remain anonymous. Our main priority is bringing Josiah home. We will do everything we can to protect your identity when forwarding the information shared as we respect your privacy.Thank you for taking the time to read this message. We can’t do this without YOU!!

#teamjosiah

#americasmissing

Office of the Attorney General (OAG) listing:

https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/josiah-anthony-felix