Pasadena woman fights to bring home mother she says was taken by caregiver

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (KABC) -- A Pasadena woman who was granted conservatorship over her 85-year-old mother says she does not know where she is.

She alleges her mother's caregiver, who she says later became her mother's husband, took her away despite court orders intended to return her to San Bernardino County.

Sarah Bull became emotional while discussing her mother, Bonnie Bull, whom she says has dementia.

“I love her… I miss her,” Sarah Bull said.

Bull said she was recently granted conservatorship over her mother by a Superior Court judge but now does not know her whereabouts.

“I have no idea where my mom is,” she told Eyewitness News.

Bull said she reported her mother missing to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's Rancho Cucamonga station but was frustrated by the response.

“They said they've contacted her and that she said she's fine… and that they've taken her off the missing persons list,” Bull said.

According to Bull, her mother's caregiver had previously taken her away.

“In 2022, he took her to Nevada, and I found out which hotel she was staying at through bank records, and I went out there and I picked her up and I took her back,” Bull said.

Bull said the caregiver had been caring for her mother at a Rancho Cucamonga home. She said she had been concerned about him for years.

“He scared me,” Bull said. “Just the way he looked at me, and he's very volatile. There's just something not right with him.”

Bull also recorded a February interaction with the caregiver that she said occurred when he was attempting to prevent her from visiting her mother. In the video, Bull asked her mother whether she wanted her to visit her, and she said she did.

Bull said concerns about her mother's care led her to hire an attorney and pursue a conservatorship. She also said she used an AirTag attached to her mother's car to track its location to a business in Alhambra called One Hour Marriage.

“It says that they're at a place called One Hour Marriage in Alhambra, and I was like, that can't be right. And so, I called over there,” Bull said.

“And (an employee) said, oh yes, they're just finishing up,” she added.

Bull said the marriage occurred in April. She said that despite a judge granting the conservatorship in October, approving a temporary restraining order against the caregiver, and authorizing a warrant intended to help return her mother, she has not been able to reunite with her.

“The (authorities) are acting like this is just a silly piece of paper,” Bull said.

In a statement, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said detectives learned that the mother had relocated outside San Bernardino County and notified law enforcement in the new jurisdiction.

“Investigators from that agency conducted an independent review of the case including in-person interviews with both the mother and the husband,” the statement said. “The investigators reported to our department that the mother had left voluntarily, did not appear to be mistreated, and expressed no desire to return to her daughter.”

The department also said it was recently informed of a court order directing that the mother be returned to San Bernardino County.

“Under the California Conservatorship Jurisdiction Act, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department cannot physically detain an individual outside of the Department’s jurisdiction,” the statement said.

Bull said her goal is to bring her mother home so she can care for her.

“I want her to be returned here so she can live with me and I can take care of her,” she said with tears running down her face. “She’s the most important person in the world.”

The court-appointed guardian ad litem for Bonnie Bull said she believes Bonnie Bull is currently in Idaho and that her caregiver may be trying to take her to Canada.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said it has again added Bonnie Bull to the missing persons list and has informed Idaho authorities about the court order.