SANTEE >> Police rescued four missing Montebello boys and arrested their father Thursday following a pursuit and stand-off on a San Diego-area freeway hours after investigators discovered the body of the children’s mother in the trunk of a car abandoned blocks from the family home.

Montebello police said Daniel Diego Perez, 43, is a person of interest after officers found Erica Perez’s body in the trunk of a Honda Accord belonging to the family.

Montebello detectives detained Perez on suspicion of child endangerment and child abduction. They also took custody of the four boys: Alex Hayden Perez, 6; Tristan Devin Perez, 8; Jaiden Eric Perez, 9; and Jordan Dante Perez, 11.

Police said the Department of Children Services will determine if the children will be released to family members.

Police found Erica Perez’s body about 5 p.m. Wednesday, then asked for an Amber Alert five hours later.

The Toyota Camry carrying the boys and their father was found Thursday with help from a vehicle tracking system.

The Camry was equipped with LoJack which wasn’t turned on. Montebello Capt. Luis Lopez said a LoJack representative contacted police and assisted in activating the system.

An El Cajon police officer detected a LoJack signal at 8:12 a.m. and found the car parked on Vernon Way and Fayette Street, said CHP Officer Pearlstein. He said the officer thought no one was in the car, which had tinted windows. The driver took off.

He estimated the 10-mile chase hit a top speed of 85 mph.

The CHP took over the pursuit when it entered the freeway. The chase ended on eastbound Highway 52, specifically a transition road to the southbound Highway 67 in Santee.

• VIDEO: ‘There was domestic violence on her part,’ Perez family members says

• PHOTOS: Perez family members answer media questions

Two of the children ran from the car toward officers. It wasn’t clear if they were released by the father or escaped, according to Montebello Police.

El Cajon police and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department used two Bear CAT vehicles to block the Camry. Daniel Perez came out of the car holding one child and followed by another.

He walked to the edge of the freeway overpass.

California Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Pearlstein said an officer fired a bean bag round at the father because he started to throw one of the boys over the freeway. Perez released the boy. Officers swarmed him.

The children weren’t hurt.

“He failed to comply with law enforcement and made a movement as if he were going to attempt to jump off the overpass while still holding one of the children. The male’s intentions were unclear while he was at the edge of the overpass,” Montebello police said in the statement.

Authorities don’t know yet where Perez was taking the children. Montebello Police said he has friends in the San Diego area and may have ties to Mexico.

Montebello police launched an investigation Tuesday after a relative reported the family missing. They were last seen Dec. 5. But the case turned from a missing persons into a homicide investigation Wednesday afternoon when police found the remains of Erica Perez.

Based on a tip received while canvassing the family’s neighborhood, Lopez said investigators found a black 2010 Honda Accord belonging to the family about 5 p.m., parked along the curb at Second Street and Harding Avenue next to Beverly Hospital.

The car was discovered less than a mile to the north of the family’s First Street home. Police found Erica Perez’s body inside the trunk.

Montebello Unified officials said Daniel Perez works as a custodian at Greenwood Elementary School in Montebello. The children attend school in El Rancho Unified School District.

Billie Holguin of El Monte, who is Daniel Perez’s aunt, said the couple was not living together and that Erica Perez was living with a boyfriend nearby.

Relatives told police the marriage was unstable and that the couple had a history of domestic violence.

Daniel Perez’s cousin, Mark Castillo of La Puente, said Erica Perez was incarcerated three or four years ago for stabbing Daniel Perez. He had a restraining order on his wife.

Los Angeles County Superior Court records show Erica Perez was convicted on March 7, 2011, of misdemeanor corporal injury to a spouse but acquitted of a misdemeanor count of assault with a deadly weapon.

The victim listed in the case is Daniel Perez, according to Greg Risling, spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office.

Risling said Erica Perez was sentenced to 60 days in jail, three years of probation and 780 hours of community service. But it wasn’t clear if all or part of the sentence was later suspended.

Daniel Perez also had his own run-ins with the law.

He was charged with theft and trespassing on April 29, 1996, according to court records. Both charges were misdemeanors. Daniel Perez pleaded no contest to trespassing and was sentenced to two years probation and 15 days of community service, Risling said. The theft charge was dismissed.

Records show another trespassing conviction on March 12, 1996. But details about that case weren’t available.

He was also accused of passing a check with insufficient funds in 1999. The case was dismissed on June 15, 2000.

— Staff writers Sandra Molina and Peter Fullam contributed to this report.