A Dana point mom hailed as a hero for ending a cross country search for a kidnapped boy and girl gasped, then dropped to her knees as one of the rescued children ran into her arms and embraced her in a surprise reunion on Thursday, April 14.
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Noah Clare, left, runs on to the stage and into the arms of a surprised Julia Bonin, of Dana Point, after Bonin received The Sheriff’s Award from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Bonin was the woman who called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after spotting 3-year-old Noah Clare and 16-year-old Amber Clare in Dana Point after they were kidnapped from Tennessee in November 2021. Clare and his mother, Amanda Ennis of Tennesse surprised Bonin during the award. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Julia Bonin, of Dana Point walks to the stage to receive The Sheriff’s Award from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Bonin was the woman who called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after spotting 3-year-old Noah Clare and 16-year-old Amber Clare in Dana Point after they were kidnapped from Tennessee in November 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Noah Clare, left, embraces a surprised Julia Bonin, right, of Dana Point, after Bonin received The Sheriff’s Award from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Clare and his mother, Amanda Ennis of Tennesse surprised Bonin during the award. Bonin was the woman who called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after spotting 3-year-old Noah Clare and 16-year-old Amber Clare in Dana Point after they were kidnapped from Tennessee in November 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Julia Bonin, left, of Dana Point, rolls a car between the legs of Noah Clare, right, after Bonin received The Sheriff’s Award from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Clare and his mother, Amanda Ennis of Tennesse, surprised Bonin during the award. Bonin was the woman who called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after spotting 3-year-old Noah Clare and 16-year-old Amber Clare in Dana Point after they were kidnapped from Tennessee in November 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Amanda Ennis, left, and her son, Noah Clare, center, of Tennesse, embrace a surprised Julia Bonin, right, of Dana Point, after Bonin received The Sheriff’s Award from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, far right, during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Bonin was the woman who called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after spotting 3-year-old Noah Clare and 16-year-old Amber Clare in Dana Point after they were kidnapped from Tennessee in November 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Julia Bonin, of Dana Point receives The Sheriff’s Award from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Bonin was the woman who called the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after spotting 3-year-old Noah Clare and 16-year-old Amber Clare in Dana Point after they were kidnapped from Tennessee in November 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Deputy Jennifer Hughes, left, receives the Medal for Lifesaving from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Hughes and her partner Deputy Alexander Valentine, who also received the award, rescued a man pinned beneath a pickup truck that flipped over in Rancho Margarita on December 27, 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Correctional Services Assistant Omar Soriano, left, Deputy Matthew Rudy, center, and Deputy Jiovanni Mier, right, stand on stage after they received the Medal for Lifesaving from Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes during the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. They rescued a suicidal inmate at the Theo Lacy Jail. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council Medal of Valor recipients on stage following the awards ceremony held at the Hilton Anaheim on Thursday, April 14, 2022 in Anaheim. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes is seated in the middle of the first row. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Five months ago, Julia Bonin, 39, spotted a man she recognized from social media as Jacob Clare walking near the beach in Dana Point. He was wanted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on suspicion of abducting his son, four-year-old Noah Clare, and the boy’s cousin, 16-year-old Amber Clare, some two weeks earlier. Bonin secretly photographed him, then notified authorities.
“We will never be able to thank her enough for trusting her instincts and doing what she felt was the right thing to do,” the boy’s mother, 33-year-old Amanda Ennis, said Thursday.
She and her son flew to California to surprise Bonin and join OCSD Sheriff Don Barnes in awarding her with the Sheriff’s Award at the Medal of Valor Ceremony hosted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council in Anaheim.
The Dana Point woman was the sole civilian honored alongside 23 deputies who also took action in moments of crisis.
Despite raucous applause from a banquet hall full of people sworn to protect and serve, Bonin said it’s difficult to think of herself as a hero. She believes she did what any other concerned parent would have, and was certain Ennis would have done the same if the tables were turned.
“Mothers take care of mothers,” Bonin said after the ceremony. “When I saw that picture (of the missing children), for days it was all I could think of and, as a mother, what she must have been going through, to not know.”
Jacob and Noah Clare failed to return from a scheduled visit on Nov. 7. Amber Clare was reported missing several days later.
Bonin spotted Jacob Clare with the two children a few days after his Subaru Legacy was found abandoned in San Clemente. She was in her car that morning, on the way to dropping her son off at school. She initially thought she was mistaken and was apologetic when she called the dispatchers to report the sighting.
“Some people see things, they pull out their camera, record it,” Sheriff Barnes said during the ceremony. “Some people see things and don’t bother to call 911. But Julia, that morning, trusted her instincts.”
Jacob Clare was taken into custody, and the children he was with were found in good physical health, authorities said. The Tennessee man has been charged by the Orange County District Attorney’s office with kidnapping and other crimes.
He has remained in custody in California while awaiting trial. Once his case in Orange County is decided, he will have to return to Tennessee to face additional charges of felony custodial interference and aggravated kidnapping, OCSD Sgt. Scott Steinle said.
Meanwhile, Noah Clare has been seeing a therapist to help him process what happened, Ennis said, and doctors say the boy does not show signs of lasting trauma. He appeared happy and energetic while playing with his mother and Bonin on the carpeted floor of the Hilton Hotel’s banquet hall Thursday.
The ceremony began with a moment of silence in honor of Huntington Beach Police Officer Nicholas Vella, who died on duty when the helicopter he was in crashed in Newport Harbor on Feb. 19.
Other members of law enforcement recognized at the event included:
- Jennifer Hughes and Alexander Valentine, two deputies who rescued a man pinned beneath a pickup truck that flipped over in Rancho Margarita on Dec. 27
- Deputy Edwin Ochoa, Investigator Jason Sneddon and Sgt. Shaun Riley, honored for saving the life of a man who had attempted “suicide by cop” and barricaded himself in his home in Laguna Hills last year on April 17. When the man announced that he had shot himself and needed assistance, they entered the home to treat his wounds even though they knew he was armed.
- Deputies Matthew Rudy and Jiovanni Mier and Correctional Services Assistant Omar Soriano. Rudy shouted, “Don’t do it!” to an inmate at the Theo Lacy Jail who was standing on the edge of a railing with a sheet tied around his neck. He and Soriano then grabbed the suicidal man and cut him loose from the improvised noose as Mier waited on the floor below in case he fell.
“What you heard today is actually just a fraction of the tremendous work that’s accomplished every day by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s 4,000 members, both professional and sworn,” Barnes said. “Each day we have an opportunity to serve, and as your sheriff, I can’t be more proud than I am to be here today.”
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