Orson West

• Missing Since 12/21/2020
• Missing From California City, California
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Black
• Date of Birth 06/11/2017 (7)
• Age 3 years old
• Height and Weight 3'0, 35 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A black sweatshirt and gray or black sweatpants.
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American male. Black hair, brown eyes. Orson's birth name was Classic Pettus.

Details of Disappearance

Orson reportedly disappeared with his brother, Orrin West, from California City, California at 4:00 p.m. on December 21, 2020. They lived with their adoptive parents, Trezell and Jacqueline West. Trezell and Jacqueline have two biological children and two additional adoptive ones. That day, the other children were away visiting their grandparents.

The Wests had begun fostering Orrin and Orson in 2018 after they were removed from their biological parents' care, and had adopted them in 2019. All of the other children were removed from the home after Orrin and Orson were reported missing.

Trezell stated the two boys went missing from the backyard. They were playing with the family's dog, and Trezell was gathering firewood. He went inside briefly, leaving the back gate open. When he returned, the children were gone. Trezell stated he drove through the nearby streets looking for them and spoke to neighbors before calling the police a few minutes later.

The police brought tracking dogs to the house, and the dogs detected Orrin and Orson's scent inside the home but not outdoors. An extensive search turned up no sign of either of the brothers.

In December 2021, a year after Orrin and Orson disappeared, their biological father, Charles A. Pettus and grandmother, Brenda Pettus, filed a lawsuit against the state of California, the county of Kern, and Kern County Child Protective Services in connection with the boys' case. The Pettuses allege that the boys' adoptive parents were improperly trained and supervised and this led to Orrin and Orson being placed in an unsafe situation, which resulted in their wrongful deaths.

A key witness against the Wests was their oldest biological son, who said he saw Orrin dead in the family's apartment in Bakersfield, California (before they moved to California in September 2020), and that he had touched the body and it was cold. The boy said he hadn't told anyone at the time because his parents told him the family would be split up. Within a week of Orrin's death, the boy said, Orson also went missing. Other children in the home said they hadn't seen either child for a long time prior to their disappearances being reported.

In May 2023, after a trial, both Trezell and Jacqueline were convicted of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty in Orrin's presumed death, and of child cruelty in the case of Orson, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the counts of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Orson's case.

The prosecution stated that, to spare the trauma to the child witnesses who testified at the child, they would not retry the Wests on those charges. Orrin and Orson's bodies have not been located, but foul play is suspected in their cases due to the circumstances involved. Bakersfield police are investigating.