UPDATE: Charles Berlinghoff, accused of kidnapping his 16 yr old niece Jeanne Berlinghoff, found hanging in his cell

Case Type: Missing From Home
Missing Date: Wednesday 10th November 2010
Missing From: Redding California
Missing Country: USA
Sex: Female
DOB: 01/May/1995
Age Now: 15
Specific Details:
Hair: Black Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5'3" (160 cm) Weight: 120 lbs (54 kg)
Race: n/a language: n/a

Known Circumstances:
A 15-year-old girl is missing from her south Redding home and may be traveling with an uncle.

Jacob Berlinghoff said his daughter, Jean Marie Berlinghoff, has not been seen since about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

He said another brother last saw Jean at her home near Shasta College. Visiting the home was Charles Berlinghoff, 44, who lives in Los Angeles, his brother said.

Jacob Berlinghoff said he called Shasta County Sheriff's deputies Wednesday night after his daughter failed to return home. No one has been able to contact her or his brother, he said.

"Everything is like they fell off the planet," he said.

Charles Berlinghoff drives a gray 1987 Oldsmobile Cutless, license number 2DNX546. He is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds and has black hair.

Jean Berlinghoff, a 15-year-old sophomore at Enterprise High School, has black hair and blue eyes. She is about five feet, 2 inches tall.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts should call the Shasta County Sheriff's Office at 245-6540.

If you have any information on Jean Berlinghoff please contact the official numbers above immediately. Alternatively, you can e-mail us here at Help Find My Child - you can do this in strictest confidence - we will make sure your information is passed on to the relevant places.

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Charles Berlinghoff’s whereabouts and those of his young niece are as mysterious to many of his family members as the strange turns his life took during a decade-long absence.

While Charlie, as his family members call him, reconnected with them around 2005, he didn’t tell them about his legal troubles. He didn’t say that he had been ordered to stay away from children under 18 during three of the years he was away. He didn’t talk about having to register as a sex offender.

Those details, revealed in Tehama County Court records, would have been warnings to Jacob Berlinghoff, 33, of Redding, who let Charlie back into his life and into the house where he lives with his two teenage girls and their two younger brothers.

“If anyone had any clue to his history ,” Jacob Berlinghoff said, “brother or not brother, there is no way he would have been around the kids.”

Charlie, 44, is wanted on a $100,000 warrant for keeping Jean Berlinghoff, 15, of Redding, from her parents. Charlie and Jean haven’t been seen since Nov. 10.

Jean’s family members in Redding say they don’t know where the two are and haven’t heard from them since Nov. 10.

That includes her younger sister, Brianna Berlinghoff, 13. Briana said she and Jean were close. After having not seen her and not knowing where she’s been for a week and a half, she said she’s just hoping for a phone call.

“I just want to know that she is OK,” Brianna said.

She said she wouldn’t quiz her sister about where she’s been or why she left.

Like her father, Brianna said she thinks Jean’s connection to Charlie played a part in her disappearance.

Knowing Charlie mostly from visits he made to Redding from Los Angeles, where he played bass in metal bands, she said he didn’t act like a typical uncle.

“He was just a cool uncle,” Brianna said. “He was more like a friend than an uncle.”

She said he didn’t judge what the girls did and didn’t get mad at them.

During Charlie’s most recent visit he’d become close to Jean and Brianna said she saw her sister change. She didn’t confide in her as much. She didn’t joke around as much.

But she didn’t talk about leaving.

Like his younger daughter, Jacob Berlinghoff said he had a close relationship with Jean. He said the two would talk about everything from school to boys and the other dominating factors in teenage life.

She didn’t talk about wanting to leaving or her bond with Charlie though.

Jacob Berlinghoff said he had a fight with Charlie that almost led to blows the day he and Jean were last seen. He’d found text messages between Charlie and Jean in which he called her “baby.”

He confronted his brother about it.

“He said, well, that is the way he talks to his girls,” Jacob Berlinghoff said.

Family members stepped in before the brothers got into a brawl and Charlie agreed to go back to LA. Later that day he and Jean went missing.

Since then Jacob Berlinghoff, and the Shasta County Sheriff’s detectives working the case, have been sifting through Charlie’s past for any clues of where they went and why.

While Jacob Berlinghoff says he and his brother, one of his 10 siblings, were close when he was 11 to 15, Charlie cut himself from the family for more than 10 years staring in the mid-1990s.

“We had zero contact,” Jacob Berlinghoff said.

Charlie was convicted of indecent exposure in Shasta County in 1993 and he was charged with four counts of misdemeanor child molestation and one felony count of indecent exposure in 1998 in Tehama County.

Charlie kept the court cases from the family.

And the court records that could have been a warning for Jacob Berlinghoff add to the mystery. They show the Shasta County case was dismissed and the Tehama County conviction was expunged from Charlie’s record. The documents don’t give any clues as to why.

Secret Witness of Shasta County Inc. and an anonymous source last week each offered $5,000, $10,000 in all, for information leading to Charlie’s arrest and conviction.

Anyone with information about Jean Berlinghoff’s whereabouts should contact Secret Witness at 243-2319 or the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office at 245-6540.

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California Highway Patrol officers and Shasta County sheriff’s deputies converged on an area near Sims Road south of Dunsmuir this afternoon after finding the Oldsmobile that may have been carrying missing Redding teen Jean Marie Berlinghoff.
Shasta County Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Grashoff confirmed to a Record Searchlight reporter at the roadblock that detectives had found the 1987 Oldsmobile, but Grashoff wouldn’t elaborate.
CHP officers blocked the road at Mears Ridge Road just off Sims Road west of Interstate 5 near Castella.
Reporters weren’t allowed to get close enough to see the car.
Around 4:20 p.m., sheriff’s deputies brought in a truck towing a trailer with three ATVs with snow tracks. There’s less than a foot of hard packed snow on the ground in the area, which is around 2,000 feet above sea level.
Phyllis Allen, who lives on Sims Road, said a CHP officer told her crime scene crews are at the car processing evidence.
She said she doesn’t remember having seen the car on the road, but she said it’s not unusual to see suspicious vehicles passing through.
Fifteen-year-old Jean Berlinghoff disappeared along with her uncle, Charles Berlinghoff, on Nov. 10.
The day she disappeared the high temperature in Redding was about 65 degrees and toward the end of that week it got even warmer, with temperatures into the mid-70s.
But the balmy weather was followed by snowstorms in the mountains and for the last several days low temperatures have dropped well below freezing.
Charles “Charlie” Berlinghoff, 44, is wanted on a $100,000 Shasta County warrant charging him with keeping Jean Berlinghoff of Redding from her parents.
Charles Berlinghoff has a history of sex crimes, but he’s not a registered sex offender and his convictions had been expunged or dismissed.
Jean’s father, Jacob Berlinghoff, said he was handing out fliers at Walmart in Redding when he learned the car had been found. He arrived at the roadblock around 5:30 p.m. He’s hopeful that the car might be lead them to his daughter.
“It’s been freezing up here,” Berlinghoff told a Record Searchlight reporter at the roadblock. “I hope they’ve been hiding in a cabin and keeping warm. ... I just hope Jean’s alive right now.”
He has questions about how long the car’s been there. He said he plans to stay at the roadblock throughout the night.
“I’ll be sitting up here as long as they are up here,” he said of the deputies. “This is the last place where there’s a clue where my daughter’s at.”
Starting on Wednesday message signs along Interstate 5 began broadcasting a description of Charles Berlinghoff’s missing Oldsmobile.
Oroville couple Tonya Zogg and Tim Gaines say they saw the alerts driving up from the Bay Area. They’re staying at a cabin on Mears Ridge Road.
“It’s kind of weird we came all the way up to this cabin and they find the car right up the road here,” Gaines said.
Zogg said she wanted to help, but knows there’s not much she can do.
“It just makes me want to cry,” Zogg said. “You just feel so helpless.”
Charles Berlinghoff was convicted of indecent exposure in Shasta County in 1993, and he was charged with four counts of misdemeanor child molestation and one felony count of indecent exposure in 1998 in Tehama County.
The Shasta County case was dismissed, and the Tehama County conviction was expunged from his record. He wasn’t required to register as a sex offender, and he’s not listed on California’s Megan’s Law website, which tracks those convicted of sex crimes.
Court documents don’t say why Charles Berlinghoff’s records were cleared.
Jean’s family members say Charles Berlinghoff kept his legal history secret from them, and it was only when Charles and Jean disappeared that they learned of his past crimes.
Family members said Charles Berlinghoff and Jean’s father nearly came to blows when Jacob Berlinghoff confronted his brother about what he believed were inappropriate overtures toward Jean.
They say Jean gave no indication she was planning to leave with Charles Berlinghoff, and she left all of her belongings at home.
Secret Witness of Shasta County Inc. and an anonymous source have each offered $5,000 — $10,000 in all — for information leading to Charles Berlinghoff’s arrest and conviction.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sherrifs Dept. at (530) 245-6165

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Jacob Berlinghoff fights back tears Wednesday in his Redding home while on the CNN television show, "ISSUES with Jane Valez-Mitchell." Berlinghoff pleaded for his brother to return his daughter, Jean Marie Berlinghoff.

Wednesday afternoon, a missing Redding teen was again the topic of a national television program on CNN’s HLN channel.

Jacob Berlinghoff, 33, father of Jean Marie Berlinghoff, 15, appeared on the “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell” show Wednesday at 4 p.m. In the show, Velez-Mitchell “takes a stand on some of the most emotionally charged issues of the day,” according to the show’s website.

Jean has been missing since Nov. 10 and is believed to be with her uncle, Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, of Los Angeles. Charles Berlinghoff is wanted on a $100,000 warrant for keeping Jean from her parents. Her father talked about his daughter, his brother and their disappearance during the 10-minute-plus segment.

“I held it together better than I thought,” Jacob Berlinghoff said after the segment.

He said he went on the show to try to send a message to Jean.

“I wanted to get a plea out,” he said. “I’m just fighting for my daughter now. I’m in a fight to hopefully bring her home.”

It’s the second time that Jean’s story received national exposure. Eight days after her disappearance, the story was featured in a five-minute segment on the “Nancy Grace” show, which airs at 5 p.m. on the same channel. Both shows are on cable channel 56 in Redding.

Berlinghoff said Jean’s story may again be on “Nancy Grace,” but he’s not sure when. Jean’s mother, Heather Vega, 33, of Redding, appeared on the show via telephone during a Nov. 18 segment.

For his appearance on “Issues” Wednesday, Berlinghoff used Skype, a video conferencing program, from his home in northeast Redding.

After the broadcast he said he plans to focus again on passing out fliers to truckers and other travelers on Interstate 5, thinking Jean and Charles Berlinghoff may be trying to hitchhike. Also Wednesday, a 48-hour effort to pass out fliers at the TA Redding Travel Center on Knight Road ended. During that time friends, family and other volunteers helped Jacob Berlinghoff pass out about 3,000 fliers.

If snow in the mountains north of Redding blocks the freeway again this week, Jacob Berlinghoff said he plans to walk the line of delayed big rigs and pass out even more fliers.

He also plans to revisit the Sims Road area off Interstate 5 in far northern Shasta County, where a car belonging to Charles Berlinghoff was found late last week. Jacob Berlinghoff said he wants to walk around where the car was found and talk to residents about whether they’ve seen Jean and Charles Berlinghoff. Shasta County Sheriff’s detectives said the car was left in a turnout along Mears Ridge Road about a week before it was found.

Shasta County Secret Witness, Inc., and an anonymous donor have teamed up to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to Charles Berlinghoff’s arrest and conviction.

Anyone with information about Jean Berlinghoff’s whereabouts should contact Secret Witness at 243-2319 or the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office at 245-6540.

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If the crime scene people were there, this is not good. He probably brainwashed this poor girl and I don't think this is going to turn out well at all.

Thanks so much for this thread, BJ.

This does not sound good at all. I missed issues last night. Another family suffering during the holiday season is almost more than I can bare.

Amen, Linda Marie!!!!

Another day, another tip and another dead end Thursday for Shasta County sheriff’s detectives trying to find a missing Redding teen.

Detective Sgt. John Hubbard said his office received a tip from a convenience store employee in the McArthur area that they’d spotted 15-year-old Jean Marie Berlinghoff Thursday morning. Hubbard said deputies talked with store employees and searched the area, but the tip turned out to be unfounded.

Hubbard said the sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies have received numerous tips daily about possible sightings of either Jean, her uncle Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, of Los Angeles, or both of them. The two have been missing since Nov. 10.

“I can tell you we’re getting a ton of sightings,” Hubbard said.

Unfortunately, most of the tips are at least a couple days old before sheriff’s officials receive them, he said.

“A lot of them (tips) are kind of cold,” Hubbard said.

Jean’s father, Jacob Berlinghoff, 33, of Redding, said he’s hopeful that one of the tips will be the one that leads to Jean coming home.

“Something’s got to pan out,” he said.

In an effort to bring in more leads, Jacob Berlinghoff will return to a truck stop in South Redding, he said Thursday. The latest effort was to have begun at midnight and will continue through Sunday at midnight and he hopes to pass out about 5,000 fliers, he said. Earlier this week friends, family members and other volunteers helped pass out more than 3,000 fliers to truckers and other travelers passing through the TA Redding Travel Center on Knighton Road.

He said the first effort brought in about a dozen tips, which he passed on to Sheriff’s detectives.

Sheriff’s detectives also have checked out possible leads with the family’s relatives in San Bernardino and in Florida. He said those relatives have been cooperative, and they have not seen either Jean or Charles Berlinghoff.

Nor have there been any leads from electronic ATM or credit card transactions or cell phone calls, he said.

“Literally, from the time they left the house, it’s like they fell off the Earth,” Hubbard said.

While staying involved in the search for his daughter, Jacob Berlinghoff said he’s been able to continue his online classes and one live class a week he takes as a full-time student at Simpson University. He said he’s taking 12 credits this term and is about half way to a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with aspirations to earn a PhD. in psychology from the University of San Francisco in 2013.

Jacob Berlinghoff said he earned an associate’s degree in psychology earlier this year from Shasta College, where he played football in fall 2009 for much of the season but didn’t get into many games as an “old guy” backing up all-region linebacker Zach Gibbons.

In addition to going to school, Jacob Berlinghoff said he’s self-employed as a movie maker, having been involved with about 50 projects. His own films, made under the screen name of Jake Daniels, include a pair of low-budget horror movies available for rent on Netflix. He said “Dark Woods” from 2006 and “The Deviants” in 2007 were shot for $5,000 each.

“They are not anything that is Oscar winning or anything,” he said.

To pay his bills he said he occasionally shoots a wedding or two. School is covered by loans and grants.

His filmmaking and his current situation make for an ironic twist in his story. Saddened by the disappearances of Tera Smith, 16, in 1998 and Heather Carpenter, 22, in 2003, Jacob Berlinghoff said he started looking into making a movie about them.

Smith went missing on Aug. 22, 1998, and has not been found. Carpenter’s body was found on Dec. 18, 2003, after she disappeared on Aug. 4 that year. Carpenter’s remains were found in a shallow grave in Keswick and her convicted killer, Patrick Michael Larmour, 25, is serving a life sentence at High Desert State Prison in Susanville.

Jacob Berlinghoff said his documentary’s script focused on Tera Smith’s case, which Hubbard, the sheriff’s detective looking for Jean, is still working. Wanting to make the movie appear much more professional than his slasher flicks, Jacob Berlinghoff said he had hoped to raise a few million dollars to make the film.

He said the project stalled after was able to line up only $300,000 in support from investors. Proceeds from the film were set to go to a scholarship fund in Tera Smith’s memory, per an agreement with her parents, Jacob Berlinghoff said.

Since his own daughter went missing, Jacob Berlinghoff said he’s talked once with Terry Smith, Tera Smith’s father.

“He said stay on top of things,” Jacob Berlinghoff said. “He said keep the faith and keep going after it.”

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The Shasta County Sheriff's Office is planning a second search for a missing teen.
Jean Berlinghoff, 15-years-old of Redding, has been missing for 24 days and investigators believe she is still with her 44-year-old uncle, Charles Berlinghoff.
Sgt. James Beaupre said Friday afternoon that a date for the search hasn't been set yet, but it is in the works. He said it will be a search into the mountains of Shasta County and will require squads and snow shoes; however, these are the only details he was able to provide.
Last Sunday, the first search commenced after authorities found Charles' 1987 Oldsmobile, abandoned on a rural road in Castella, south of Dunsmuir. They weren't able to find anything, but investigators say every lead is important.
Sgt. Beaupre said the office has all eight investigators working on the Berlinghoff case and they look into every lead. He said the fresher the tip, the more likely it could lead to something.
Jake Berlinghoff, Jean's dad, says he also gets bombarded with tips, but that he passes them along to investigators.

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Kind of hinky that Jacob is interested in a movie about missing teenage girls.
No offense, just saying.

Thought the same thing myself Charm. Just saying of course.

Great minds, baby.

LOL Charm I am starting to think about Balloon boy and his dad. Hummm I say...hummm.

As a north state militia group took to the snow for the second day today in search of a missing Redding teen, her disappearance received exposure on another national media outlet – "America’s Most Wanted."

The Northern California State Militia began searching the snowy area near Mears Ridge Road near Castella on Saturday for Jean Marie Berlinghoff, 15, who has not been seen since Nov. 10. and is believed to be with her uncle, Charles “Charlie” Berlinghoff, 44. Charlie Berlinghoff’s 1987 Oldsmobile was found abandoned in the wooded area Nov. 26, and he is wanted on a $100,000 felony warrant for keeping Jean from her parents.

Jean Berlinghoff’s disappearance has already been covered by CNN talk show hosts Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell on their national television shows, and now Charlie Berlinghoff is listed as a “fugitive” on the "America’s Most Wanted" website.

Jean’s father, Jacob Berlinghoff, 33, said today that he hopes the additional Internet exposure will create some new leads in his daughter’s disappearance.

In the meantime, Jacob Berlinghoff is relying on the assistance of the militia group, and members are searching out caves, mines and cemeteries in the Mears Ridge Road area for his daughter or Charlie Berlinghoff, who acquaintances say has a fascination with all three.

“I don’t know a whole lot about him,” Jacob Berlinghoff said of his long-estranged brother. “That’s something I picked up from talking to people who know him.”

Rather than searching with the militia group, Jacob Berlinghoff said he returned today to a Knighton Road truck stop where he’s been distributing fliers with Jean’s and Charlie’s pictures nearly every day.

“I usually talk to detectives easily about three times a day and figure out what they’re doing,” he said. “And then I go to the truck stop, and that’s about my life.”

But soon he will seek out a new spot to reach more travelers who may have seen his daughter, he said.

“I’ve basically saturated these truckers, I think, with it,” he said of the flier. “I’m going to figure out a way to get the flier in the other truckers’ hands.”

Jacob Berlinghoff said he’s also in the process of organizing a fundraiser to increase the $10,000 reward currently offered for tips on finding Jean. Shasta County Secret Witness Inc. and an anonymous source each pledged $5,000 for information leading to Charles Berlinghoff’s arrest and conviction.

Anyone with information about Jean Berlinghoff’s whereabouts should contact Secret Witness at 243-2319 or the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office at 245-6540.

“Every eye counts,” Jacob Berlinghoff said. “Every person out there looking counts.”

He said he will likely have a date and location for the fundraiser finalized on Tuesday.

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BJOR wrote:
“I don’t know a whole lot about him,” Jacob Berlinghoff said of his long-estranged brother. “That’s something I picked up from talking to people who know him.”

He doesn't know a lot about him, and yet he trusted him to live with them & his daughters? Not very smart. He (the uncle) looks like a very strange guy... how many men wear a braided goatee?!? I sure hope & pray that this girl is still alive, but it doesn't sound good!

Shasta County Sheriff's Sgt. John Hubbard won't say what led to a second $100,000 warrant issued today in the case of missing Redding teen Jean Marie Berlinghoff.

"For certain charges ... victims have the right to confidentiality, and that's what we have going on here," Hubbard said, adding later that although the department's investigation has clearly led to additional evidence, "nothing striking has come up."

Charles Berlinghoff, 44, of Los Angeles, is wanted on suspicion of keeping Jean Berlinghoff, his 15-year-old niece, from her parents. The two have been missing since Nov. 10. Jean's father, Jacob Berlinghoff, has said they disappeared after he confronted his brother with his suspicions that the uncle and niece shared an inappropriate relationship.

The case has not become a murder investigation, Hubbard said today, but he could not comment on whether there is evidence of a sex-related crime prompting the second warrant.

"I cannot answer that," Hubbard said.

Charles Berlinghoff's car was found Nov. 26 on a road near Dunsmuir, but further searches of the area have not found more signs of the missing pair, Hubbard said today.

Reached Monday night, Jean’s mother Heather Vega said she and Jean's father, Jake Berlinghoff, don’t have any additional information about the new warrant.

“What’s out there now is what they showed us,” Vega said. “I know that the Sheriff’s office has worked overtime and they’re a bunch of good men and women trying to help out.”

Vega added that her family and the Berlinghoff family greatly appreciate the efforts of Shasta County law enforcement and the community at large, as the case is nearly a month old.

“It’s been a month and the sheriff’s office is still going full force on this,” Vega said. “They’re all working tirelessly. I believe they’re going to bring her home safe. It’s become personal for them. I have no doubt they’ll find our daughter.

“I just want the community and law enforcement to know how much we appreciate what they’re doing. We feel all the people in this community have become our family. We’re so pleased at how people have responded. I think if it were anyone’s daughter, they would have responded this way,” Vega said.

Jean's disappearance has received national attention on the "America's Most Wanted" and "Nancy Grace" TV shows, yielding "loads and loads" of tips and reported sightings as far away as Kentucky, Tennessee, Washington, Oregon and Colorado, but none have proved fruitful, Hubbard said.

That is frustrating for detectives, but the abundance of potential leads and added workload is not an issue, he said.

"I would rather have those come in," said Hubbard of the tips. He remains hopeful that the right one will bring Jean Berlinghoff home safely. "It only takes one."

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The first warrant was for concealment of a child.
Detectives won’t give details on what the new charges are because they say it’s confidential.

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Missing Redding teen found in San Francisco

Missing Redding teen Jean Berlinghoff was found alive and safe in San Francisco this afternoon, authorities reported.

Her uncle, Charles Berlinghoff, 44, was arrested on two felony warrants related to Jean's disappearance from her home Nov. 10.

"This is a great day to find out she is alive," Jacob Berlinghoff said at a news conference this evening at the Shasta County Sheriff's Office. "We're waiting patiently for her to come home. We're going to greet her with big hugs."

Jean's mother, Heather Vega, was also at the Sheriff's Office this afternoon. "This is better than the day she was born," Vega told the Record Searchlight earlier this afternoon.

According to San Francisco Police Officer Albie Esparza, Jennifer Berlinghoff, a cousin of Jean Berlinghoff, called 911 in San Francisco at 1:44 p.m. Saturday saying she had seen Jean and Charles at a Best Buy in the 400 block of Division Street in the Mission District. Police arrived five minutes later and detained three people without incident: Jean Berlinghoff, Charles Berlinghoff and an unidentified black man. The three were found near a red Ford Explorer with Oregon license plates.

All three initially gave false names to police, Esparza said. The cousin provided police officers with Jean's and Charles' real names, and police ran a warrant check. They found that Charles Berlinghoff had a warrant issued out of Shasta County for keeping his niece away from her parents. Officers also visited the findjean.org website to verify that two of the people they had in custody matched pictures on the site.

Charles Berlinghoff was taken into custody and detained at the Mission police station. Jean was taken into protective custody at the same station.

San Francisco police were trying to figure out the role of the unidentified man found with Jean and Charles. He was detained but not under arrest as of 5:30 p.m. Saturday. They were also trying to determine who owns the car, Esparza said.

"We're waiting the arrival of Shasta County detectives to take over the investigation," Esparza said.

Shasta County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Beaupre said in a 5:30 p.m. news conference today that the California Highway Patrol was working with the sheriff's office to fly a detective to San Francisco to conduct interviews.

"This is a welcome break in this case," Beaupre said. "I'd like to thank the CHP, the media and the law enforcement around the state and nation who assisted us."

Jacob Berlinghoff said he was at the search up by Castella being conducted by dozens of volunteers today when he got word that his daughter had been found in San Francisco.

Jean Berlinghoff had been missing since Nov. 10 and was believed to have been with Charles Berlinghoff.

Charles Berlinghoff was wanted on $200,000 of warrants.

The original $100,000 warrant was issued Nov. 16 for detainment or concealment of a child from the legal custodian.

A second warrant was issued Dec. 5. Authorities would not say what charges that warrant included.

On Nov. 26 — 16 days after she was last seen — a tip by someone who saw a description of the car the two were believed to be traveling in led detectives to a forest road off Interstate 5 about 40 miles north of Redding. A half-mile from the freeway on Mears Ridge Road, which splits from Sims Road, they found Charles Berlinghoff’s 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

Jean Berlinghoff was the second missing girl found in San Francisco in two days, Esparza said. "We want to first of all acknowledge these callers that without them we wouldn’t have been able to find these missing people," he told the Record Searchlight Saturday evening. "And we also want to acknowledge San Francisco Police Department officers rapid response and taking them into custody without incident. Two cases like this in 24 hours is great."

A 12-year-old girl missing for a week from Roanoke County in Virginia was found Friday in San Francisco with her abductor, 32-year-old Jeffrey Scott Easley. Brittany May Smith had been missing since Dec. 3, when she and Easley were captured on store surveillance video at a Walmart in Virginia. The girl's mother and Easley's girlfriend, Tina Smith, was found dead on Monday at their home in southwestern Virginia. The cause of death has not been released but police consider it a homicide.

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PHOTO BY DYLAN DARLING

Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Beaupre talks with Jean Berlinghoff's parents, Jacob Berlinghoff and Heather Vega at the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Saturday afternoon.

Thank goodness!! That is two for two. Two teens found alive in two days!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Raine!! :cheering:

First, Christmas came early Saturday afternoon for the family and friends of Jean Berlinghoff, the 15-year-old Redding teen who'd been missing for a month, when she was found safe and live in San Francisco. The break came when one of Jean's cousins, who lives in the Bay Area, spotted Jean walking in San Francisco with Charles Berlinghoff, the girl's uncle; the focus of an intense manhunt since last month.

Bay Area police arrested Charles Berlinghoff on two felony warrants related to Jean's disappearance from her Redding home Nov. 10. Since then, law enforcement, family and the public had conducted a tireless search for the pair. The most recent major lead came a few weeks ago after Berlinghoff's car was found abandoned in Dunsmuir on Nov. 27.

Second came a welcome gift to Shasta County law enforcement Saturday night when Shasta County Superior Court Judge Stephen H. Baker set bail at $1 million for Charles Berlinghoff.

Baker signed the papers authorizing the bail Saturday evening, following a Shasta County Sheriff's department press conference that gave details about the arrest of Charles Berlinghoff in San Francisco where he and Jean Berlinghoff were spotted this afternoon in a retail store by Jean's cousin, Jennifer Berlinghoff.

Shasta County Sheriff's Sgt. John Hubbard said that Jennifer Berlinghoff was shopping with her boyfriend in downtown San Francisco when she saw some familiar faces. He said Jennifer said, "That looks like Charles and Jean," then called 911.

Hubbard said Bay Area law enforcement responded to Jennifer's call, and Charles Berlinghoff was arrested "without incident" after giving a false name. Hubbard said that nevertheless, Charles Berlinghoff was easily identified through tattoos and other physical characteristics.

Jean Berlinghoff was taken into protective custody, Hubbard said, though he couldn't speak to the girl's condition, or her reaction during her uncle's arrest, or other details regarding this incident.

"I'm as anxious to hear as anyone," he said.

Most likely he won't need to wait long, because three Shasta County Sheriff Department detectives were already on their way to San Francisco, one via plane; the other two sped there via California Highway Patrol.

Regarding Charles Berlinghoff's bail, Hubbard said the Sheriff's Department requested the enhanced bail.

"We believe Charles Berlinghoff is a flight risk," Hubbard said. "And he's obviously eluded us for 30 days."

Hubbard gave special credit to law enforcement, his office, media and citizens for work done to find the Berlinghoff pair. He sighed heavily when he spoke about Jean Berlinghoff, the teen who'd been missing for a month, now found safe and alive.

"Thank God, thank God," Hubbard said. "This is just a huge, huge relief for everyone. This is Christmas. What a gift."

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Wow!! That is a true miracle, and such a coincidence to the previous miracle of Brittany Smith being found in the same city a day earlier! What is it with San Francisco? Whatever it is... they are both found!!

The family of Jean Berlinghoff, 15-years-old of Redding, says Jean is resting and enjoying her day with them after being missing for over a month.
The family was reunited Sunday morning at the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office after which they spent most the afternoon at home.
KRCR spoke with Jake Berlinghoff, father of Jean, since he said she wasn't ready to speak with the media.
Jake told KRCR that Jean is in good spirits and the first thing she ate was a chocolate cupcake.
Jake says he is grateful for the entire community for their help in bringing Jean home.
KRCR also spoke with Morgan Ostergren, one of Jean's closest friends. When Ostergren’s mom told her Jean had been found she thought it was just another rumor.
“When my mom said Jean was found I was just like oh my God," said Morgan. "I couldn't feel my fingers, I was shaking. We are just so ecstatic she's back.”
Jake plans on hosting a celebration next Saturday featuring Roller Derby Girls at the Big League Dreams. A $5 donation will go to an organization to help kind missing kids.
The event will be from 7:00p.m. to 10:00p.m.
Jean was found in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon with her uncle, Charles Berlinghoff and another unidentified man. The San Francisco Police Department put Jean into protective custody, while Charles was arrested. He will eventually be transported to the Shasta County Jail.
Investigators haven't been able to tell us anything about the unidentified man, expect that he was with the two and is from Oregon.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office is continuing with follow-up interviews to complete the investigation.

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Offender ID: 177859
Date of Birth: 07/20/1966
Age: 44
Race: White
Gender: Male
Custody Status: Out of Custody
Date: 03/19/1993
Reason: Unknown

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Still hinky to me. Way hinky.
My friend had a brother that went missing. His cousin spotted his car being driven by someone else in our area. The killer led them to his body after LE found out about the car. His body was eventually found.
This case sounds too contrived. I still believe it is for a movie deal or book contract. Your cousin does not pick you off the street in San Francisco.

:woot: I am glad she was found.
charm you really think this was all planned like the balloon boy?

I agree with Charming on this one.

Not long after the two disappeared on Nov. 10, they abandoned the 1987 Oldsmobile they were driving near Sims Road south of Dunsmuir. They apparently jumped on a boxcar and rode a train north to Portland, said Shasta County Sheriff Detective John Hubbard.

“They were pretty much living from soup kitchen to soup kitchen until they ran into this gentleman who said he had to go to San Francisco, and they hitched a ride with him,” said Hubbard on Monday afternoon.

The two likely spent most of the time they were missing in the Portland area before traveling with the man to San Francisco.

The man who gave Jean and Charles a ride to San Francisco likely didn’t know they were wanted by police or that they were the focus of an intense search that had attracted national media attention, said Hubbard. Hubbard said the man’s name would like be released by Tuesday.

“My (investigators) think he was pretty honest and he had no idea (there was a search for them),” Hubbard said. “It’s a big sigh of relief, but now the work comes into play. We’ll try to find out if anyone helped them, how did they get from here to there. Everything that went on is important. Obviously we want to find out if any kind of abuse whatsoever took place.”

Though plenty of questions still linger, Jean’s parents say that for now, the girl needs rest.

“Right now she’s just relaxing, spending time with her family and taking one day at a time,” said mother Heather Vega. “We’re very grateful to the community, and as soon as we get all the facts straight, we’re going to let people know more (information).”

Vega added that Jean was very happy to be home and “very much missing her family during the entire time.”

Though he knows people would like to know more about the case, Jean’s father Jacob Berlinghoff said the focus is on letting the situation calm down for now.

“Right now the effort is to protect Jean,” Jacob Berlinghoff said. “We haven’t even really talked a whole lot to her about it. There’s a lot of speculation and I know that’s human nature. But we’re just so glad she’s home and safe.

“We haven’t shut anyone out and we’ll share details as we go. There’s a long way to go as far as Jean’s healing process,” he said.

Both parents thanked law enforcement, the community and the media for the effort in locating their daughter.

Jacob Berlinghoff said he’s heard all kinds of rumors related to the case, including that he staged the entire thing to get media attention. He said that the fact that Jean's own cousin spotted her was pretty miraculous, but he also has a huge family and everyone was on the lookout.

“I told Jennifer she probably had better chances of winning the lottery than spotting Jean,” Jake Berlinghoff said. “She was in the right place at right time. We got extremely lucky and found her. Any parent who loses a kid is going to do anything they can to find them.”

Though he doesn’t know much in the way of details, Jacob Berlinghoff said he doesn’t think his daughter knew she was the subject of such an intense search.

In regard to his brother, Jacob Berlinghoff added that “obviously there was some manipulation going on. He had her for 31 days and my understanding is he did not let her out of his sight. I think that says a lot.”

When Jean reunited with her parents and family there were a lot of tears of joy, Jacob Berlinghoff said.

“Jean said yesterday that she’s really glad to be home,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling, absolutely amazing. Seeing her, I can’t put together words for that. Right now the focus is on Jean and helping get her into a good process of mental health.”

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Investigators have questioned all three people. Detective John Hubbard says Jean and Charles ditched his car in Castella, south of Dunsmuir and then hopped on a train to Portland. This is where they believe they met the unidentified man for the first time, hitching a ride with them to San Francisco. Detective Hubbard says the reason why they went to San Francisco was because the unidentified man has ties to the city.
Aside from these details, detectives say they need to conduct in-depth interviews to answer the question on so many people's minds, what happened during Jean's disappearance.
Detective Hubbard did say Jean went willingly. Despite this, Jean's father, Jake says she was manipulated by Charles. Jake would not elaborate on how she was manipulated.
Jake says when Jean is ready to talk, she will talk.

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Very shady. Thanks for agreeing with me, Laga!
I do see "balloon boy" written all over it.

The father of Jean Berlinghoff, the 15-year-old girl from Redding who went missing for a month, says his daughter was manipulated into staying with her abductor.
Jean's alleged abductor is her 44-year-old uncle, Charles Berlinghoff.
Jake Berlinghoff, Jean's father, believes Charles told his daughter that he would leave his kids and his music career for her. Jake also believes Charles told Jean that if she called home, he would get in trouble.
Jake says Jean hasn't said much, but she has said that her and Charles visited several cities and lived a transient lifestyle.
Jake says Jean and Charles ate bugs, out of trash cans and at soup kitchens, to fill their bellies. He also said they made stops in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon where they met a stranger who gave them a ride to San Francisco.
It was in the bay area where Jean's cousin, Jennifer Berlinghoff spotted her, her uncle and the unknown man.
Jean has been home since Sunday morning and has been sleeping most of the time. Jake says he's planning on home schooling her until she is ready to return.
Jake also says the two of them have scheduled several counseling sessions for this week.

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San Francisco police arrested Charles Berlinghoff on two felony warrants related to Jean's disappearance and he remains in custody in the city on $1 million bail. He is expected to be transported to Redding this week, where he will be arraigned and charged.

The man who gave Jean and Charles a ride to San Francisco likely didn’t know they were wanted by police or that they were the focus of an intense search that had attracted national media attention, said Hubbard. Hubbard said the man’s name would like be released by Tuesday.

“My (investigators) think he was pretty honest and he had no idea (there was a search for them),” Hubbard said. “It’s a big sigh of relief, but now the work comes into play. We’ll try to find out if anyone helped them, how did they get from here to there. Everything that went on is important. Obviously we want to find out if any kind of abuse whatsoever took place.”

Though plenty of questions still linger, Jean’s parents say that for now, the girl needs rest.

“Right now she’s just relaxing, spending time with her family and taking one day at a time,” said mother Heather Vega. “We’re very grateful to the community, and as soon as we get all the facts straight, we’re going to let people know more (information).”

Vega added that Jean was very happy to be home and “very much missing her family during the entire time.”

Though he knows people would like to know more about the case, Jean’s father Jacob Berlinghoff said the focus is on letting the situation calm down for now.

“Right now the effort is to protect Jean,” Jacob Berlinghoff said. “We haven’t even really talked a whole lot to her about it. There’s a lot of speculation and I know that’s human nature. But we’re just so glad she’s home and safe.

“We haven’t shut anyone out and we’ll share details as we go. There’s a long way to go as far as Jean’s healing process,” he said.

Both parents thanked law enforcement, the community and the media for the effort in locating their daughter.

Jacob Berlinghoff said he’s heard all kinds of rumors related to the case, including that he staged the entire thing to get media attention. He said that the fact that Jean's own cousin spotted her was pretty miraculous, but he also has a huge family and everyone was on the lookout. Jacob must read some of the posts on VH. :lol!:

“I told Jennifer she probably had better chances of winning the lottery than spotting Jean,” Jake Berlinghoff said. “She was in the right place at right time. We got extremely lucky and found her. Any parent who loses a kid is going to do anything they can to find them.”

Though he doesn’t know much in the way of details, Jacob Berlinghoff said he doesn’t think his daughter knew she was the subject of such an intense search.

In regard to his brother, Jacob Berlinghoff added that “obviously there was some manipulation going on. He had her for 31 days and my understanding is he did not let her out of his sight. I think that says a lot.”

When Jean reunited with her parents and family there were a lot of tears of joy, Jacob Berlinghoff said.

“Jean said yesterday that she’s really glad to be home,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling, absolutely amazing. Seeing her, I can’t put together words for that. Right now the focus is on Jean and helping get her into a good process of mental health.”

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During her 31 days away from home, Jean Marie Berlinghoff struggled through hunger and exhaustion, her father says.

Still adjusting to having the daughter he thought might be gone forever back since Sunday morning, Jacob Berlinghoff, 33, of Redding said today that he’s kept conversation away from what happened while his 15-year-old daughter was gone.

Jean’s cousin spotted her in San Francisco’s Mission District Saturday, walking down the street with a her uncle Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, of Los Angeles. The two hadn’t been seen or heard from since Nov. 10, and Charles Berlinghoff was arrested on suspicion of keeping his niece away from her parents and other charges.

“At this point we are just glad that she’s home,” Jacob Berlinghoff said.

By the time Jean was found he said, he had decided that she might be dead.

“I thought the next step would be I’d have to plan a funeral,’’ Jacob Berlinghoff said.

‘…if you only knew’

While he’s not pressing for details, Jean’s given some hints of her experience, Jacob Berlinghoff said. Chief among them are how hungry and tired she was while away.

So hungry that she and Charles Berlinghoff dug through trash to find food. So hungry that they went to soup kitchens to find hand-out meals. So hungry, Jean told her dad, that at one point she ate bugs and a slug just to have something in her belly.

“ ‘Dad, if you only knew,’ ” he said Jean told him.

Jacob Berlinghoff said she told him that after she devoured a chocolate cupcake after he brought her home Sunday morning.

“Then she wanted doughnuts,” Jacob Berlinghoff said.

Even more than sweets, Jean has wanted sleep, he said. She snoozed from 4 p.m. Sunday until noon today.

“She slept for nearly 24 hours straight,” Jacob Berlinghoff said.

He said she hasn’t offered many other details beyond saying that at times she saw things that reminded her of her family and friends and she’d break down and cry.

North by train, south by car

Jacob Berlinghoff said he’s also learned that Jean and Charles Berlinghoff hopped a northbound freight train, riding in an open boxcar, after ditching Charles Berlinghoff’s 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass off of Interstate 5 about 40 miles north of Redding. The car was found on Nov. 26 and Jacob Berlinghoff said it’s still not clear when they left it behind.

The train took Jean and Charles Berlinghoff to Portland, Ore., where Jacob Berlinghoff said the two frequented soup kitchens and stayed in homeless shelters.

He said he doesn’t know what story Charles Berlinghoff gave to explain his relationship to young Jean, 29 years his junior.

While in Portland it appears Jean and Charles Berlinghoff became friends with a man who had an SUV, said Detective Sgt. John Hubbard of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office. The three made the trip to San Francisco from Portland, but, like Jacob Berlinghoff, Hubbard said he didn’t yet know when.

Charles Berlinghoff remained in jail today in San Francisco with bail set at $1 million. Hubbard said he didn’t know what day Berlinghoff will be brought back to Redding.

“It will be sometime this week,” Hubbard said today.

If Jacob Berlinghoff had a chance to talk to his brother he said he has one question for him.

“How the hell can you do this to your family?” he said.

A Shasta County Sheriff’s detective flew to San Francisco Saturday and interviewed Charles Berlinghoff, but investigators are still trying to determine where he and Jean went during their month away, Hubbard said.

Hubbard said detectives are still working on a timeline including when the Berlinghoffs arrived in San Francisco. It appears the man who drove them south didn’t know they were the objects of a month-long search, Hubbard said, and he’s not being charged with any crimes.

Over the Internet

Jean’s cousin and her boyfriend, who caught the first glimpse of Charles Berlinghoff Saturday near a busy shopping area said they knew who they were looking at from numerous posts by family members on social websites and the findjean.org website.

Jennifer Berlinghoff, 25, said she grew up in Redding and moved to San Francisco to go to college after graduating from Shasta High School in 2003.

While she was present for Jean’s birth, she said the 10 year age difference between her and Jean kept the cousins from being close.

She said she only met Charles Berlinghoff once, last year at her grandfather’s funeral. The Berlinghoff family is large, with Jacob and Charles among nearly a dozen siblings, and many of Jean’s relatives were keeping a watch out for her, Jennifer Berlinghoff said.

Jean and Charles were first seen at Bryant and Division streets in San Francisco, a place where lots of homeless people are on the street, Jennifer Berlinghoff said.

“It would be very easy to hide,” she said.

She said it was simple luck that her boyfriend noticed Charles Berlinghoff on the street. Berlinghoff was still sporting his unique ponytail beneath a shaved head along with a braided goatee, on the street.

Back on TV

While Jean was missing her father and the Shasta Roller Derby planned a roller derby for Dec. 18, aimed at raising money to buy billboard space for announcements about her disappearance around the country. Now that she’s back, Jacob Berlinghoff said the fundraiser is canceled.

While she was gone he also appeared on “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell,” a national television show on CNN’s HLN network. Monday he made a second appearance on the show.

While on Dec. 1, Jacob Berlinghoff gave an emotional plea to his brother to bring Jean back, Monday he celebrated her safe return.

“I was absolutely ecstatic,” he told Velez- Mitchell. “We were both crying and she told me she was happy to be home.”

Velez-Mitchell commended Jennifer Berlinghoff for calling police as soon as she saw her cousin and then not letting her out of her sight.

“She did everything right,” she said.

Relaxing after the national television appearance via a webcam in his living room, Jacob Berlinghoff said now begins the long, uncharted process of returning Jean to normal life. A sophomore at Enterprise High School before she went missing, he said she’ll likely now do independent study.

He said the family probably will meet with counselors as they sort out what she went through. “It’s been a crazy 31 days and it’s not over,” Jacob Berlinghoff said.

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"BJOR"... While he’s not pressing for details, Jean’s given some hints of her experience, Jacob Berlinghoff said. Chief among them are how hungry and tired she was while away.
So hungry that she and Charles Berlinghoff dug through trash to find food. So hungry that they went to soup kitchens to find hand-out meals. So hungry, Jean told her dad, that at one point she ate bugs and a slug just to have something in her belly.

Sounds like they had a great time!

While I agree with Charming that this story (with the cousin spotting them) does sound "hinky", I don't think it was staged. For one thing, he is now facing serious charges in relation to this "adventure" - not exactly the kind of exposure he would want! It is a very strange & disturbing story, and I am just glad that it had a happy ending!! :cheers:

Just for the record I've never been hungry enough to eat a slug.

Me neither!! :lol!:

Slugs for dinner? No way.

What the hell is a slug? A worm?

I find this story extremely "hinky". It's hard to imagine the cousin finding Jean in a city the size of San Francisco. What are the odds of that?

Rainbow, you DO bring up a good point.

Jean needs to wake up and start talking. Something here makes no sense.

Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell. This is in contrast to the common name snail, which is applied to gastropods that have coiled shells that are big enough to retract into.

Read more at:
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We have a lot of them here where I live (Vancouver Island, Canada) & they are disgusting creatures! They are very slimy & like to eat our flowers in the summer months. So, they are not our favorite creatures & I could never imagine eating one!!

Slugs get stuck in Noel's fur. It is so fun to be rubbing her belly and find a slimy bump!

Still very hinky to me. What's a million dollars and some time in jail when the screenplay can be sold for a movie of the week?
If I went missing at her age, a cupcake would be the LAST damn thing my Dad would give me...
Home schooled for the rest of the year? How about a convent or reform school? Yes, she might have been influenced, but hey, she was wrong, too.

Give me a barf bag!
The man accused in the disappearance of Redding teenager, Jean Berlinghoff, appeared in a Shasta County courtroom Friday afternoon as the police report into the case was made public.
Charles Berlinghoff, 44, was arraigned on 20 felony charges, including ten counts of providing lewd material to a minor and ten counts of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. During his court appearance, Berlinghoff asked the judge for more time to find a lawyer.
KRCR obtained a copy of the police report in the disappearance of Jean Berlinghoff and her uncle, Charles. According to the documents, on the day Jean and Charles disappeared in November, Jean's father found disturbing text messages and cell phone pictures indicating the two were having an inappropriate sexual relationship.
The texts included the following messages between Charles and Jean's cell phones hours before their disappearance:
CHARLES: 11/09/10 11:02p.m. "I'm going to miss you to so bad, it's hard to leave I don't ever want to"
JEAN: 11/09/10 11:11p.m. "I know baby"
CHARLES: 11/10/10 6:27a.m. "Good morning baby I love you I can't wait to hold you again XOXO"
According to Jean's father, Jacob, he found the text messages and photos after Jean and Charles returned home around 2:00a.m. on November 10. He told police he confronted Jean and Charles, but both denied having an inappropriate relationship. Following the confrontation, Jacob says he went to bed and slept until 4:00p.m. that day. When he woke up, both Charles and Jean were gone.
Officials say the day Jean and Charles left the Redding area, they drove to Castella and ditched Charles' car. The two then took a train north and spent nearly three weeks in Portland, Oregon.
They were found Saturday, December 11 in San Francisco. Charles Berlinghoff is being held in Shasta County Jail on $1,000,000 bail. Jean Berlinghoff is staying with family.

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Facing charges that he kept his Redding niece away from her parents for 31 days, Charles David Berlinghoff told a Shasta County judge Friday that he planned to turn to his family for help in paying for an attorney.

“I want to see if I can hire an attorney,” said Berlinghoff, 44, of Los Angeles.

Berlinghoff made his first court appearance Friday afternoon, where he was arraigned in Shasta County Superior Court but didn’t enter a plea.

Berlinghoff came into court facing charges of child stealing and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. But at his arraignment Judge Wilson Curle added 10 charges of providing lewd material to a minor and 10 charges of arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose — all of which allegedly occurred between Nov. 1 to Nov. 10, according to court records.

Berlinghoff returned to the Shasta County jail after the hearing, where he’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

He is accused of leaving Redding with his 15-year-old niece on Nov. 10, prompting a monthlong search for the girl that resulted in national television appearances by her parents. Berlinghoff and the girl were spotted Saturday by the teen’s cousin in San Francisco’s Mission District, and Berlinghoff was arrested by San Francisco police.

While the teen’s name was publicized during her disappearance, the Record Searchlight is withholding her name now after learning the nature of the charges against her uncle. The newspaper does not name victims of alleged sex crimes.

Berlinghoff is due to return to court Wednesday for further arraignment. None of his family members attended Friday’s hearing and the teen’s parents couldn’t be reached for comment.

Court records released after the hearing show that family and friends told investigators that Charles Berlinghoff and the teen were in an “inappropriate” relationship for an uncle and niece. Berlinghoff was near the end of an approximately weeklong visit to the teen’s home when he and the teen stayed out until 2 a.m., the records show, prompting the teen’s father, Jacob Berlinghoff, to ground her.

When Jacob Berlinghoff told her she was grounded and asked for her cell phone, she started frantically deleting text messages, Deputy Nate Benton of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office wrote in his report. Jacob Berlinghoff grabbed the phone and found texts there that indicated the girl might be in a relationship with her uncle, Benton reported.

Benton wrote that the texts included: “I’m going to miss you to (sic) so bad, it’s hard to leave I don’t ever want to,” and “Good morning baby I love you I can’t wait to hold you again XOXO.”

After reading the texts, Jacob Berlinghoff confronted his brother saying his relationship with his niece had to end, Benton wrote. Charles Berlinghoff responded by angrily throwing items around the house, the report said.

After the two disappeared, Jacob Berlinghoff told the Record Searchlight that he wanted to hit his brother so he went to his room to cool off. When he returned later Charles Berlinghoff and the teen were gone — although neither appeared to have taken any extra clothes or luggage.

After hours of checking with friends and family, and calling Redding’s hospitals, Jacob Berlinghoff called 911 to report his daughter missing with her uncle.

During their investigation in the more than a month that Charles Berlinghoff and the teen were missing, deputies and detectives talked to one of her friends who said the teen was in a relationship with an older man named “Charlie” who lived in Los Angeles. His roommate in Los Angeles told detectives that Charles Berlinghoff had said he was dating an 18-year-old in Redding.

After talking to the teen’s family members and friends, Shasta County sheriff’s Detective Steven Curtiss concluded that Charles Berlinghoff had “maliciously taken, enticed away, kept, withheld, and/or concealed” the teen from her parents. The report, filed Nov. 16, resulted in a judge issuing a $100,000 warrant for Charles Berlinghoff’s arrest. A judge added a second $100,000 warrant for undisclosed crimes on Dec. 6.

Just after Friday’s arraignment, investigators called a news conference at the sheriff’s office.

During the news conference, Sgt. Jim Beaupre gave the most detailed outline yet of where Charles Berlinghoff and the teen went during their 31-day disappearance.

On Nov. 10, the Wednesday they last were seen in east Redding, Charles Berlinghoff and the teen went north on Interstate 5 and ditched his 1987 Oldsmobile on Mears Ridge Road, which splits off Sims Road west of the freeway about 40 miles north of Redding, Beaupre said.

After staying in the woods for several days near Sims Road, Charles Berlinghoff and the girl jumped aboard a slow-moving freight train headed north.

They got off in Eugene, Ore., and eventually headed north to Portland, where they stayed for three weeks and worked in a soup kitchen while staying at a homeless shelter.

In Portland they met a man who was unaware that they were the objects of a search. The man drove them to San Francisco three or four days before Charles Berlinghoff was arrested Saturday.

During that drive they passed about 2½ miles from the teen’s home as they went south on Interstate 5.

“They went right through Redding,” Beaupre said.

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