At about 3 a.m., State Police were informed by the U.S. Marshals Service that a wanted California sex offender could possibly be traveling through Louisiana. Troopers learned that 37-year-old Joseph F. Moreno was wanted out of Dos Palos, CA, on charges of sexually assaulting a child. Moreno was believed to be traveling with 37-year-old Penny L. Rascon and her four children, ages 4, 6, 7, and 8. The children were all listed as missing out of California.



State Police broadcast the wanted person information to all law enforcement across a three-troop area along the I-10 corridor. Shortly after 7 a.m., two troopers from Troop I who had been working closely with the Marshals Service spotted Moreno at a convenience store off of Exit 76 near I-10 in Acadia Parish.