The father of a Monterey Park teenager who disappeared for a week before being found safe outside a Glendale TV station on Tuesday was arrested Friday on suspicion of child abduction and other allegations, authorities announced.
Jeffrey Chao, the father of 15-year-old Alison Chao, was arrested on suspicion of child abduction, conspiracy and falsifying a police report, according to a Monterey Park Police Department news release.
“The Department’s dedicated efforts and collaboration with other agencies were pivotal in resolving this critical situation and ensuring Alison Chao’s safety,” according to the release.
The department is still investigating the case and declined to provide further details in the release.
A Glendale woman who declined to give her name out of privacy concerns told The Times on Tuesday that she saw a girl who resembled Alison slipping into KABC offices in Glendale. The woman alerted a security guard, who brought the girl back outside.
The Glendale woman said that Alison told her she had run away from home and that she didn’t want to go back to her mother. Alison told her she was on her way to KABC to tell her side of the story.
Jose Romero, the attorney retained by Jeffrey Chao, said in Tuesday news conference that Alison wasn’t kidnapped and that there wasn’t any indication of foul play.
Romero declined to comment Tuesday on a video reportedly filmed by Alison the day before her disappearance. The video, which circulated on social media after Alison went missing, shows police officers arriving at a residence and urging Alison to come with them.
Romero didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Annie Chao, Alison’s mother, said in a Friday statement that she separated from Jeffrey Chao on Mar. 10, 2023, and that she requested to share custody of Alison.
“I want the public to know that my family and I are good, decent people, and worthy of your trust,” Annie Chao said in the statement. “The misleading statements about us that have appeared on social media this week have been incredibly hurtful, unwarranted, and fueled by a small number of ‘influencers’ who do not have the full knowledge of my relationship with Alison or Jeff or of our home life prior to my filing for divorce.”
Annie Chao has “sole physical custody” of Alison, Emily Robinson, Alison’s court-appointed counsel, said in an emailed statement to The Times.
Alison had reportedly left her home in the 200 block of North Ynez Avenue in Monterey Park at 5:32 p.m. July 16. Monterey Park police initiated a missing-person investigation at 9:36 p.m. that evening, according to a department news release.
The teen was riding a blue mountain bike en route to her aunt’s house in nearby San Gabriel, her family told KTLA.
The trip should have taken about 20 minutes, but her aunt called Jeffrey Chao around 8 p.m. to let him know his daughter still hadn’t arrived.
