One of the saddest and most distressing stories of the past year reportedly comes out of California City, where two very young brothers were reported missing by their adoptive parents just four days before Christmas 2020. I say reportedly because now it's not even certain that Orrin West, 4, and his brother Orson West, 3, ever lived in California City. More on that a little later.

What we do know is that shortly after Trezell and Jacqueline West claimed that their adoptive boys went missing from the family's backyard, suspicions quickly escalated about the story the West couple told the public in the only interview they granted to the media the day after reporting them missing. Eight days into the investigation, I asked California City Police Chief Jon Walker if there was any evidence the little boys might not be alive.

Contributing columnist Jose Gaspar is a news anchor/reporter for Telemundo Bakersfield and KGET. Email him at elcompa29@gmail.com. The views expressed here are his own.