Sacramento teacher arrested for harboring Rancho Cordova teen missing for nearly 2 years

A Sacramento City Unified School District employee was arrested Thursday after an investigation uncovered she harbored a missing teen for two years.

The Rancho Cordova Police Department said Holga Castillo Olivares, 61, was charged in the disappearance of Michael Ramirez, 15, who returned home “inexplicably” in March after being reported missing in June 2020.

Olivares is a second-grade teacher at Alice Birney Waldorf-Inspired K-8 School on 13th Street in South Land Park, according to authorities and the school’s website. Police did not say whether Ramirez was a student of the school, nor did they describe the relationship between the two, but media reports indicated that Olivares is the mother of a boy who was friends with Ramirez.

SCUSD said the case is in connection with “acts unrelated to the employee’s assigned duties.”

A spokesman for the district said Olivares was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a district investigation, but declined to comment further.

Olivares faces a felony charge of detention of a minor with the intent to conceal from a parent and a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office jail logs.

She is ineligible for bail from Sacramento County Main Jail, and she’s expected to be arraigned Monday.

Detectives are asking anyone with information relating to this incident to contact the Rancho Cordova Police Department at 916-362-5115.

This story was originally published October 22, 2022 at 9:53 AM.