Missing: Rachel and Kaynen Katz

Police have a message for a 17-year-old mother they say plucked her child from Jewish Family and Child Services in Thornhill’s Promenade Mall: if you love your child, you must bring him back.

Kaynen Katz, 18 months, was taken from the centre at about 12:30 p.m. on April 28. He is thought to be with his mother, Rachel McKenzie Katz, 17.

Det. Sandra Staley appealed for his return during a media conference in Vaughan today.

Ms Katz has no fixed address, but is a Toronto native. She frequents the area around Davenport and Symington roads in Toronto, where she was last seen at about 2 p.m. April 28.

Kaynen was taken from the Jewish Family and Child Services offices on the third floor of the Promenade Mall during a supervised visit with his mother, Det. Staley said.

Police and the Jewish Family and Child Services worry about the 18-month-old’s well-being due to

Ms Katz’s lack of parenting skills, Det.-Sgt. Angelo DeLorenzi said.

A court order placed Kaynen in the custody of the Jewish Family and Child Services. York Regional Police obtained a court order under the Youth Criminal Justice Act to release the young mother’s identity.

“The mother here is a chid herself; she’s 17 years of age,” Det.-Sgt. DeLorenzi said. “We don’t know exactly where she is right now, but because of her upbringing and her going through foster home to foster home when she was a young girl, she did not have great parenting skills herself. So, obviously, there is a concern and this child is in need of protection.”

Rachel McKenzie Katz is black/Filipino, five-feet, seven-inches, 150 pounds with a slim build. She has long, black hair worn in a ponytail and a tattoo of a rabbit on her lower back. She was wearing a white shirt and white pants.

Kaynen Katz is a black/Filipino male with brown eyes and black, curly hair. He was last seen wearing green khaki nylon pants and a light and dark green T-shirt. His shoes and jacket were left behind.

Anyone with information is asked to call the #4 District Criminal Investigation Bureau at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7441 or 7400, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or leave an anonymous tip online at www.1800222tips.com.

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