KC legislator Manny Abarca charged for violating order, not returning son to wife
Update: Shawnee police arrested Manny Abarca on Wednesday on domestic battery charges. Abarca was booked into and then bonded out of Johnson County’s detention center, and his toddler son was safely reunited with Alexis Garcia, the boy’s mother whom the court had granted full custody. Read the latest story here.
Kansas City’s municipal prosecutor charged Jackson County legislator Manuel “Manny” Abarca IV Wednesday with violating an order of protection granted to his wife late last week, according to court records.
Abarca’s wife, Alexis Garcia, requested the protection order Friday, which the court issued that same day. It gives Garcia full custody of the couple’s 2-year-old son Manuel Abarca V, known as Luca, and prohibits Abarca from contacting her.
The protective order came after police were called to the home of Abarca’s father in Shawnee on Thursday afternoon in response to what was described as a domestic dispute, according to Shawnee police crime mapping data.
Wednesday’s municipal charges accuse Abarca of knowingly violating the protective order by failing to return Luca to Garcia, according to court documents.
Garcia filed a missing persons report for Abarca and Luca on Sunday afternoon with Shawnee police. She wrote on social media Sunday that she had not seen her son since the evening of Wednesday, May 28, and posted again on Tuesday night that she still had not seen Luca.
“My top priority at this time continues to be locating and getting Luca back,” wrote Garcia, who described herself as the “primary caretaker” for the boy and her daughter.
Around 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning, Abarca sent a statement to local media: “It has come to my attention that a ‘missing persons’ report has been filed erroneously concerning my son and me. Please rest assured we are not missing and that we are both safe and healthy.”
Later Monday afternoon, he virtually attended a brief meeting of the Jackson County legislature.
Court documents indicate that Kansas City police reported the alleged protection order violation around 10:30 p.m. on Monday night, citing the location of Abarca’s home.
The Kansas City Star has requested a copy of the police report related to the violation.
Both Abarca and the young child remain the subjects of active missing persons investigations by the Shawnee Police Department as of Wednesday. Luca was still listed on the missing persons database maintained by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday afternoon. Abarca was also listed there until Tuesday.
The city’s prosecutor Linda Miller filed the charges around noon on Wednesday, court documents read. The court also issued a summons, ordering Abarca to appear for a July 10 hearing in Kansas City Municipal Court, adding that an arrest warrant will be issued if Abarca fails to attend.
Additionally, Garcia filed a motion Wednesday morning in Jackson County Circuit Court asking a judge to find Abarca in contempt of court for allegedly violating the conditions of the protective order. A hearing has been scheduled for Monday on that motion.
Neither Abarca nor Garcia’s attorney responded Wednesday to messages from a Star reporter. The Kansas City Police Department declined to comment on the charges, referring The Star back to municipal court documents.
Mike Hendricks contributed reporting.
This story was originally published June 4, 2025 at 4:15 PM.
