Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:00 pm
Fears of Baby Gabriel's Death Mount Police, father worry that baby is not still alive
PHOENIX - Logan McQueary, the father of the missing 8-month-old Tempe baby, is again speaking out on his past with the baby's 23-year-old mother Elizabeth Johnson. He's also losing hope that Gabriel will ever be found.
McQueary says that while Johnson was pregnant with Gabriel, he offered her money to have an abortion, but she said she wanted to have the baby. As the relationship fell apart, she then started talking about adoption, even though he said he was willing to take full custody.
He also expressed worry about a photo taken of Gabriel while he was in Texas. In the photo, he appears drowsy and is holding a bottle of prescription medication. McQueary says Gabriel wasn't on any medication.
"When I saw that picture I started crying. Even when he is tired he never looked like that before," he said.
A babysitter recently came forward saying that Johnson asked her to give Gabriel the pills to "shut him up." McQueary says Johnson would complain often about Gabriel's crying.
"She didn't want to listen to him cry. She always told me to shut him up and put him in his crib and I just played with him," recalled McQueary.
At a press conference Monday, McQueary told FOX 10 that Johnson had a tendency to go into uncontrollable rages. He is certain she is capable of killing a baby, but he is clinging to hope that Gabriel is still alive.
His message to the unidentified couple that allegedly adopted Gabriel in San Antonio, Texas: "I just want them to realize how much I miss him and how much I want him. To be a part of my life, my family, and realize what they're doing to everybody," said McQueary, choking back tears. "I just want them to do the right thing, and get him home."
Earlier Monday, Elizabeth Johnson's grandfather visited her in jail and they talked for about 20 minutes. He says he encouraged her to tell the truth, but she wouldn't open up.
"She's prepared to stay strong in her conviction that she did the right thing and the baby's in good hands," said Robert Johnson.
The Tempe Police Department says that when baby Gabriel first went missing, they had "strong indicators" that he was still alive and in good health. But they say now, those indicators are not nearly as strong.
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:01 pm
Tempe PD: Mother’s GPS processed in search for missing boy
Reported by: Christopher Sign
TEMPE, AZ -- Tempe detectives have processed a GPS device that may have been used by the mother of a missing 8-month-old boy.
Investigators say the information from the GPS, including its origin, cannot be released.
It has been weeks since baby Gabriel Johnson disappeared while with his mother, Elizabeth, in San Antonio, Texas after leaving Tempe.
Gabriel Johnson was last seen around December 26.
Detectives will not say how many people have been questioned involving the search for the boy, but Jack Smith, who is considered a 'person of interest' in the case told ABC15 a family member outside Arizona has been interviewed.
"They (investigators) went to my son's house in Tennessee and asked him a few questions which is all normal stuff, they have to do that and that's ok," said Jack Smith Wednesday night.
Smith went on to say he has no problem being labeled a 'person of interest' and hopes the investigation continues to move forward.
"We're hoping it's (investigation) making progress, I mean it needs to be making progress and we (the Smiths) certainly have faith and hope that's what is going on," said Jack Smith.
Tempe officers say the number of tips they've received in search of missing baby Gabriel has dropped.
"The tips are not coming in at the volume they were a week ago," said Tempe Lt. Mike Horn.
According to Tempe Officers, indications that Gabriel is alive are not as strong as they were earlier in the investigation, however, detectives continue to hold out hope the boy will be found alive.
According to Elizabeth's MySpace page, it appears Elizabeth was posting messages just days after her son went missing.
On her MySpace bio, Elizabeth calls herself a "proud parent" and labeled her mood as "adventurous" on December 29, 2009, and appears to have last logged-in on December 30, 2009, the same day she was arrested in Miami.
When asked about the MySpace page and visitor postings, Tempe Police Sgt. Steve Carbajal said, "Detectives are using any means necessary to find information and especially Gabriel."
According to detectives, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson refuses to tell authorities where the baby is or who may have him or what led her to San Antonio.
Police also confirm to ABC15 there are two, separate, yet parallel investigations involving the disappearance of the toddler.
According to Horn, a team of detectives is working a missing persons investigation and a homicide investigation at the same time because it is unknown if boy's mother gave the child away or possibly killed him.
"It is a very real possibility that Elizabeth killed Gabriel," Horn said. "We are holding out hope that he's alive, but we have to look at every aspect and investigate everything."
Detectives are also looking into the possibility that the missing boy may be disguised as a girl by the people who have him.
"There's one thing we've learned in this investigation and that is that anything is possible," said Carbajal
During a media briefing Monday, Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary, pleaded for help in the search for his missing son.
"This is about Gabriel and I want to find my son," McQueary said. "I think about it every single day whether he's dead or alive."
Tempe detectives have also released new photos taken of the baby boy while Gabriel was in a San Antonio motel.
SEE THOSE PHOTOS IN THE ATTACHED SLIDESHOW
Horn said investigators believe all the photographs were taken at a Home Gate Hotel and that the last two photos have a date stamp of December 26.
Horn said the pictures were found on Elizabeth Johnson's camera when she was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida nearly two weeks after the pair went missing.
McQueary believes Gabriel may have been medicated or drugged based on Gabriel's appearance in the photos.
"It didn't look like him (Gabriel), didn't look like he was happy in those pictures," said McQueary.
A group of investigators from the FBI, San Antonio Police Department, Maricopa County Attorney's Office and other agencies are actively involved in the case across the country.
McQueary described to reporters the eerie call he said he received from Elizabeth on December 27.
"I asked her where she is and she said that I stuffed him (Gabriel) in a diaper bag, she suffocated him, put him in a diaper bag and put him in the dumpster," a teary McQueary said. "Then she (Elizabeth) just kept going on, she said you ruined my life this is what you deserve and after that I hung up on her."
Johnson has been indicted on charges of kidnapping, child abuse, custodial interference, and conspiracy to commit custodial interference.
McQueary said he has not visited Elizabeth in jail, but has thought about it.
"I'm not exactly sure what I would say to her, other than I just want her to be honest," said McQueary.
Well-known TV show America's Most Wanted has now featured the Gabriel Johnson case, but Horn would not discuss any tips generated by the publicity.
Officials say Johnson fled the state with her son during the week of December 22 in an apparent custody dispute.
Last week detectives searched the home of a Scottsdale couple considered 'persons of interest' in the case.
Jack Smith said police took his laptop computer and made a copy of his business computer's hard drive. He said they also took brochures they had for a foster agency.
Jack Smith said he had "a hard time understanding" the timing of the police activity at his home.
"If they had got here at six in the morning, they could have had coffee with me and spent the day with me," he said. "But yet, they had to keep my daughter from going to bed last night until midnight. My daughter is always in bed before midnight."
He said police arrived around 7:30 p.m. to secure the home until the search warrant arrived. Smith said detectives began searching around 11 p.m., finishing around 1 a.m.
The Smiths say they offered to allow police to search the home weeks ago.
"Let me tell you how worried I was," said Jack Smith. "I fell asleep on the couch."
Video Tempe Police Lt. Mike Horn discusses the case
The search warrant came just hours after Tammi Smith voluntarily met with Tempe detectives for more than two hours last Thursday.
As she walked out of Tempe Police Department Headquarters, Smith could be heard saying, "That was rough."
She went on to talk to reporters and quickly admitted that she played a role in manipulating paperwork with Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of baby Gabriel.
"I made a poor decision back when I met Elizabeth," said Smith. "I helped her (Elizabeth) file her paperwork so she could get her child support and things like that. There was another name put on there and I helped her (Elizabeth) fill out that paperwork, and because of that it obviously doesn't make me look good."
The name on the paperwork was apparently Craig Cherry, Tammi Smith's cousin, which prompted Tempe police detectives to look into the possibility Cherry was Gabriel's father.
When contacted by phone Friday, Cherry said he does not blame Tammi Smith for helping Johnson use his name on the paperwork, suggesting he was a "potential father" of Gabriel. He said he believed Tammi Smith was trying to protect the baby from his biological father, based on what Johnson told her about him.
"Instead of putting a false name there, I helped her (Elizabeth) put another name," said Tammi Smith.
With her husband, Jack, waiting nearby, Tammi went on to say she and her husband do not have attorneys, but were considering calling one.
While the Smiths are labeled "persons of interest" in the case by Tempe Police, Elizabeth Johnson is considered the prime suspect in her son's disappearance and is not cooperating with detectives.
McQueary's father, Frank McQueary spoke out about the case as well, asking the public for help finding his grandson.
He asked people to keep an eye out for, "that next door neighbor buying stuff for a baby and they didn't have a baby before. Let somebody know."
He said the family is confident Gabriel is alive.
In the meantime, police say a reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for the safe return of the Tempe toddler who disappeared with his 23-year-old mother last month.
The reward is being offered through Crime Stoppers in San Antonio, Texas.
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:39 am
Family of missing baby's father to hold vigil Mike Sakal, Tribune January 21, 2010
The paternal family of a missing 8-month-old Tempe boy is holding a candlelight vigil for him in a Scottsdale park on Sunday.
The family of Logan McQueary, the father of Gabriel Johnson, who has been missing since Dec. 26, is inviting the public to the vigil in honor of Gabriel at 6 p.m. Sunday at Chaparral Park. The park is at 5401 N. Hayden Road, and the vigil will be held at the south soccer field.
The baby, Gabriel Johnson, has been missing since Dec. 26 when he was last seen in San Antonio, Texas, where his mother, Elizabeth Johnson took him in the midst of a custody battle with McQueary. The story has received national media attention.
Johnson is being held on a $1.1 million cash bond in the Maricopa County Estrella Jail. She has remained uncooperative with authorities about revealing Gabriel's whereabouts since her arrest in Miami Beach, Fla., on Dec. 30, according to Tempe police.
The McQueary family said they are hopeful that the baby will be safely returned.
Anyone with information about Gabriel's whereabouts can call The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/149779
Last edited by Melinda on Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:36 am; edited 1 time in total
Melinda Team Angels
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:40 am
(News 4 WOAI) SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Police began excavating a landfill Tuesday in search of a body or other evidence in the disappearance of an 8-month-old Arizona boy who was last seen with his mother at a San Antonio hotel on the day after Christmas.
Elizabeth Johnson, 23, was locked in a custody dispute with the baby's father when she took off from Tempe, Ariz., in mid-December. Johnson has refused to say where the baby is, but she told the father, Logan McQueary, that she killed the infant and threw his body in a trash bin -- a story she later retracted in a media interview.
Police Chief William McManus said Tuesday that authorities began the arduous task of digging down through 45 feet of trash with hazardous material crews and cadaver dogs standing by. It will take at least six days to dig to the layer containing trash from the hotel. The hotel's trash, which is in a section that's been cordoned off for weeks, will be recovered and carefully sifted, he said.
"We do remain hopeful that Baby Gabriel is alive," McManus said at news conference near the landfill's edge. "We are, however, conducting a missing person investigation and a homicide investigation."
He declined to offer any details on the investigation, which began as a missing-person case but was reclassified as a homicide to allow for the landfill dig. McManus said leads have come in from a variety of sources and investigators are checking every one. Safely conducting a landfill search requires careful planning and specially trained investigators, McManus said. Heavy rains, which create toxic run-off, also have been a concern, he said.
Johnson, who was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Dec. 30, is jailed in Arizona on charges of kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference.
She told Phoenix television station KPHO that she gave the baby to a couple in a San Antonio park and only said she killed the boy to get back at McQueary, who had refused to give the baby up for adoption. Investigators say her descriptions of the purported hand-off were vague.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Melinda Team Angels
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:42 am
Texas landfill search on for missing E.V. baby February 9, 2010
A San Antonio police spokesperson told the Tribune on Tuesday that an initial excavation will include digging about 45 feet deep, and no cadaver dogs are being used at this time.
Between Dec. 21 and 27, Johnson stayed at two motels in San Antonio, the HomeGate Studios and Suites and the Quality Inn and Suites, according to authorities. While there, she was seen with a Hispanic man at both motels and riding in a smaller SUV, according to a Maricopa County Superior Court document. When Johnson left the Quality Inn and Suites, where she was last seen with the child, she left behind baby items including a portable baby bed and Gabriel’s hospital identification band from his birth.
FBI agents in Florida were able to locate Johnson at a youth hostel by tracing her through a computer she was using at a nearby library to message Tammi Smith’s MySpace page on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30. Police confiscated a new cell phone, a GPS tracking device and a knife from Johnson, according to the court document.
Smith, 37, of Scottsdale, was charged last week with conspiracy to commit to custodial interference and forgery in connection to the case. Johnson is being held in the Maricopa County Estrella Jail on a $1.1 million cash bond, and Smith was released on $15,000 bond.
They both are scheduled to appear in Maricopa County Superior Court for a hearing on Friday.
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:48 am
Famed sleuth hunts for missing baby. A renowned private investigator and four of his associates who are conducting a nationwide search of missing 9-month-old Gabriel Johnson believe the boy is still alive and they are close to finding him. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/150637
Last edited by Melinda on Wed Feb 24, 2010 1:21 am; edited 2 times in total
Melinda Team Angels
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Thu Feb 18, 2010 1:48 am
Gabriel Johnson update: Police focusing on green diaper bag in search for missing baby (video) Police believe the body of little Gabriel Johnson may be in a San Antonio landfill—inside a green diaper bag, according to KENS 5.
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:27 am
Search for Gabriel Johnson Police are also following new information on baby Gabriel Johnson after one of our viewers saw a story we aired last night. Today, the missing boy's father spoke to that viewer who hopes information he has will help find Gabriel. Yami Virgin has the story. http://www.foxsanantonio.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/vid_1345.shtml?
Melinda Team Angels
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:28 am
Baby Gabriel's Dad Back In Texas
PHOENIX -- The San Antonio landfill search for missing baby Gabriel Johnson was temporarily halted Tuesday after snow started falling.
On Thursday, the search entered Phase No. 2, and authorities brought in cadaver dogs from across Texas to search for the baby, who was last seen with his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, the day after Christmas.
Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary, was also in San Antonio on Tuesday to continue his own search for his son. While in town, he met with Travis Andrews Warford, the former son-in-law of the couple -- Jack and Tammi Smith -- who wanted to adopt Gabriel.
Warford has said the Smiths "stole" his daughter, Hannah, from him by going to court and gaining custody without his knowledge.
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:30 am
Expensive ring may prove Baby Gabriel is alive and adopted, father says
by Marvin Hurst / KENS 5
Posted on February 18, 2010 at 8:44 AM
Updated Thursday, Feb 18 at 12:36 PM ******
Logan McQueary does not put much stock in claims his son may be a murder victim.
Gabriel Johnson has been missing since late December when authorities said his mother, Elizabeth, brought him to San Antonio. The child has not been seen since.
San Antonio police launched a capital murder investigation in conjunction with the toddler's missing person case. In fact, they will begin sifting through the Tessman Road Landfill for evidence of his murder Thursday morning.
"I'm really not worried about it that much because I don't think Gabriel's there at all, " McQueary said.
The 25-year-old has searched from Arizona to San Antonio for his missing son.
The baby's mother reportedly wanted to put their child up for adoption. He allegedly disagreed.
Police said that evolved into the 23-year-old mother going on the run. She ended up in Miami without her son.
Johnson was arrested on child custody charges for skipping a hearing regarding Gabriel's custody. Investigators said she was not helpful in determining the child's whereabouts.
She alleged her son was given to a couple in a San Antonio park. But police have found no evidence that ever happened.
McQueary said she reportedly sent him an e-mail claiming she murdered their son, put him in a bag and threw him in a Dumpster before she left town.
That's why the authorities are searching an east-side landfill. The trash from the hotel where she stayed in San Antonio comes to the area they plan to sift for several days.
But Gabriel's father believes his son is the yield of an illegal adoption, not murder.
"It's looking like Elizabeth handed him off to somebody," he claimed. "I don't think Elizabeth did what she said. I think she just said that to hurt me."
The distraught father bases his belief on several clues he's dug up on his own. The most recent revelation is a $20,000 ruby and diamond ring. She reportedly had it in her pocket when she was arrested.
"Sometimes when they give the baby away for adoption they hand over jewelry to the mother," he said.
McQueary believes that unlike cash, the trail for pawned jewelry is more difficult to trace. He's still trying to figure out who gave her the ring.
The Arizona father said Elizabeth had low-paying jobs. In addition, McQueary said in the two years they lived together he never saw that ring.
The expensive piece of jewelry was allegedly handed over to Johnson's grandfather, Arizona authorities said. However, McQueary said the grandfather denies any knowledge of the ring.
"I'm gonna keep searching until they prove me wrong," he said. "Gabriel's still out there. He got handed off to somebody, and we're going to find him."
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:48 am
Police are also following new information on baby Gabriel Johnson after one of our viewers saw a story we aired last night. Today, the missing boy's father spoke to that viewer who hopes information he has will help find Gabriel. Yami Virgin has the story. http://www.foxsanantonio.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/vid_1345.shtml
Melinda Team Angels
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:05 am
Gabriel Johnson update: Missing baby’s mom refuses to leave jail cell for court hearing (video) March 9, 2:53 PMCrime ExaminerCindy Adams
Gabriel Johnson update: Missing baby’s mom refuses to leave jail cell for court hearing (video)
The mother of missing baby, Gabriel Johnson, is refusing to leave her jail cell and appear in court to face a judge for a pretrial conference.
Elizabeth Johnson, who fled Tempe, Ariz. with Gabriel in late Dec. after losing a custody battle with his father, Logan McQueary, is charged with custodial interference, kidnapping, and child abuse. In a prior court hearing she pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
According to McQueary, while on the run, Johnson contacted him saying she had suffocated Gabriel and then placed him in a bag that she proceeded to throw in the trash. After being arrested in Florida, Johnson changed her story telling police that during her journey from Arizona to Florida, she gave the baby to an unknown couple in San Antonio, Tex.
Subject: Re: Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:49 pm
Search of Texas landfill ends; no sign of 'Baby Gabriel' March 12, 2010 (CNN) -- After searching a landfill for clues into an 8-month-old boy's disappearance, investigators in Texas said Friday that they have discovered nothing that shows that the baby was killed.
"We found no evidence of a homicide," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters at a news conference. He said investigators searched for 16 days and went through 4,260 tons of debris at the landfill looking for Gabriel Johnson, who has been missing since December 26.
"The good news is that we have no homicide at this point; the bad news is that the case remains open," he said.
McManus said the missing persons unit will continue to follow up on any leads and the homicide unit will investigate "any information indicating foul play."
He said authorities will meet in the coming days to determine their next step.
Gabriel was last seen in San Antonio, with his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, who has refused to disclose information about his whereabouts.
She told Gabriel's father she killed the boy and has also said she gave him away to a couple in San Antonio, police say. Johnson drove Gabriel to San Antonio from Tempe, Arizona, and she went to Florida a week later, according to investigators.
Johnson, 23, was arrested in Florida and extradited to Maricopa County, Arizona, where she remains behind bars, charged with kidnapping, custodial interference and child abuse.
A lead prompted investigators to focus on the landfill, which is owned by Republic Services, a waste and environmental services company based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:00 pm
