Infant Murdered in Foster Care 2/2 CA, Arrest Warrants Garcias Fled to Mexico

July 20, 1010. UPDATE: Long-term abuse possible in foster child death. – Child welfare workers said Monday that confidentiality laws prohibited them from responding to claims they had been warned a little girl was in danger before the child’s bruised body was abandoned in a southwest Bakersfield home Sunday. Also on Monday: The coroner’s office identified the victim as Serenity Julia Gandara, 3. The coroner’s office reported an autopsy was performed and the cause and manner of death “are pending further investigation.” The Bakersfield Police Department said the girl’s foster parents – who were her aunt and uncle – probably are in or near Mexico hiding from authorities. The parents, Carla Garcia, 26, and Alberto Garcia, 26, apparently took their three biological children. Relatives said Carla Garcia is a Mexican citizen. Police said Carla Garcia called her sister Sunday morning and asked her to come to the Garcia house in the 5900 block of Summer Country Drive, in southwest Bakersfield. When she got there, the sister found Serenity’s body on the floor in one room, and Serenity’s 4-year-old brother sleeping in another room. The Garcias and their three children were gone. Police said Serenity had trauma to her head and torso, and both she and her brother had injuries in various stages of healing. On Monday, Maria Garcia, the maternal grandmother of the foster children, told Channel 17’s Emily Moore she had warned a CPS social worker about abuse in the Garcia household. “I …