Chief: Baby Gabriel Search Ongoing

[MysticFlower]

Chief: Baby Gabriel Search Ongoing
March 4, 2010


SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- On Wednesday, Gabriel Johnson, who was last seen with his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, the day after Christmas in San Antonio, would be 10 months old.

There is no marking of this special date by his father, who is searching for the baby in Texas. There is no celebration -- only more searching and hoping.

But also on Wednesday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus tried to assure Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary, and the public that the search for Gabriel is still a very high priority.

"We have not, for a minute, pulled any resources from this investigation," said McManus.

McManus is well aware of how the nation has gravitated to the search for baby Gabriel.

He admitted he's fixated on it too, both as a father and as an officer of the law.

"Some people say the longer you are in law enforcement, the more callous you become and the less these cases affect you," McManus said. "I'm here to tell you, I've been in this business for 35 years and the more I'm in it, the more it affects me."

That's why it was important for him to stress that his department has not wavered in its dedication to the case.

"The San Antonio Police Department considers this case a high priority," he said. "We have not pulled any resources from it and we still hope that we will find baby Gabriel alive. We will pursue this case until, you know, it comes to a conclusion one way or another."

Unfortunately, that dedication has not led to tangible results.

His team at the Tessman Road landfill has combed through 1,200 tons of debris by hand, but still has nearly 3,000 tons to go, and so far they have found no evidence of Gabriel or Johnson.

That failure only bolsters McQueary's belief that Gabriel is still alive.

"I still have a lot of confidence," McQueary said. "We're still trying. I'm not giving up. I'm not going to give up at all."

Chief McManus said he welcomes any leads Logan McQueary provides, and denies that his detectives have put the missing persons part of the case on the back burner.

"We're pushing forward with this case as fervently as we started," McManus said. "We have not pulled back one bit."

New Witness Comes Forward

A witness came forward Wednesday night saying Johnson spent several days alone, visibly troubled, and away from her vulnerable child.

CBS 5 News has tracked several locations where Johnson was spotted while in Texas and most of them make sense.

There was the Homegate hotel, a Subway restaurant and a gas station, but a Laundromat called Easy Wash is not so easily explained.

Manuel De Leon, a maintenance worker at Laundromat, said for four days straight, Johnson came in and paced by the bank of dryers. She did not do any laundry until the fourth day.

"At first I thought she was in to drugs and trying to get together with a buyer. She kept going back and forth like she was waiting for somebody or trying to meet with somebody," said De Leon.

But De Leon never saw Johnson meet up with anyone, and although she came in multiple times a day, he never saw her with Gabriel. He only spotted Gabriel's car seat and Johnson's white sedan parked outside.

"She was like stressed out, like she had something on her mind," De Leon said. "When you have something on your mind, your face shows it. The way you look at people and things. That's why I kept away from her because I thought maybe she's upset about something."

On Dec. 26, Manuel finally tried to talk to Johnson.

"It was short, because I told her 'Are you from San Antonio?' and she said, 'No, I'm headed to Florida.' And that was it," he said. "I couldn't really make any conversation with her because she cut it off."

Johnson fled to Miami Beach the next day, where she was later captured.

But what was she doing at the Laundromat? And where was Gabriel all that time?

"I think she really met with somebody and we're just trying to track that down," McQueary said. "We just haven't been able to figure out who she met with. If we could get one name of somebody she met with, that would be a huge lead."

McQueary passed Manuel's tips along to the San Antonio Police Department, and officers did follow up.

Manuel said he's 100 percent sure he saw Johnson, and also feels confident Gabriel is alive and close.

"I think the baby's still around, in this area somewhere," said De Leon.

~snipped~

http://www.kpho.com/news/22738664/detail.html

[313girl]

But De Leon never saw Johnson meet up with anyone, and although she came in multiple times a day, he never saw her with Gabriel. He only spotted Gabriel's car seat and Johnson's white sedan parked outside.

That concern's me. Where was Gabriel? Trial run with the new family? Or was she trying to figure out what she was going to do?

[MysticFlower]

I am wondering if this DeLeon actually saw Elizabeth or some other woman. What he is saying doesn't fit in with what else we know. When Elizabeth left Gabriel alone, she hired a babysitter. I find it hard to believe that she would leave Gabriel alone in the hotel room and if she had already given Gabriel to the adoptive parents then how was he spotted afterwards? It seems that once she gave Gabriel to the parents then they would all go their separate ways as Elizabeth did on the 26th. And, if she was waiting for someone then who would that be? She must have known how to contact the parents or the person whom she communicated with originally.

Seems to me there would be another babysitter in that area who hasn't come forward, and that might be true if she doesn't want to get involved with this case, or maybe she is involved and doesn't want anyone to know it.

[313girl]

Great points, I wasn't thinking of the timeline. If it was her, possibly she was waiting for a preset meeting with the people she gave him too?