GABRIEL JOHNSON - 8 months (2009) - Tempe AZ/Miami Beach FL

Miami Beach Police have arrested an Arizona woman wanted for allegedly
kidnapping her own baby in a custody dispute; now, police are searching
for her missing 8-month-old child.

Police in Tempe said 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson was found Wednesday
with the help of local police in Miami Beach, after she allegedly left
Arizona December 18th. Police say she doesn't have legal custody of her
son Gabriel; she officially lost her parental rights after missing
Arizona custody hearing just four days ago.

Police said Johnson has previously made threats against the child, who has not been seen since December 26th.

In addition, police are searching for Johnson's white 1995 Oldsmobile bearing Arizona tag AGZ4214.

Police say Johnson has not explained where the baby or the car might be.

Anyone with information is asked to contact their local police department or the Tempe Police Department at (480) 350-8311 or Silent Witness, a program similar to Crime Stoppers, at (480) 948-6377.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- A Tempe woman has been arrested
in Florida on suspicion of custodial interference but police say the
whereabouts of her infant son remain unknown.Elizabeth Johnson,
23, was taken into custody Wednesday by Miami Beach police, authorities
said. They said Johnson was in San Antonio, Texas, from Dec. 22 to 27.Johnson
was scheduled to appear in Maricopa County Superior Court's Family
Court in Phoenix for a Dec. 28 custodial hearing. But authorities say
she failed to appear and lost custodial rights to 8-month-old Gabriel
Johnson.Authorities said Elizabeth Johnson has yet to reveal the
wherebouts of her baby and they also are searching for the car she was
driving."We're obviously very concerned that we right now have
an 8-month-old child whose whereabouts are unknown," said Sgt. Steve
Carbajal of the Tempe Police Department."Our investigators have
been working around the clock trying to locate him, and the bottom line
is, we know as parents what it's like to have children and to have that
8-month-old out somewhere where we don't know and we don't have
information to locate him, that's very disturbing to our
investigators," he said.Johnson was driving a white 1995 Oldsmobile Delta-88 with an Arizona plate number AGZ4214.

MIAMI BEACH, FL--Miami Beach Police have detained an Airzona mother who
is suspected of 'custodial interference' of her own baby boy.

Now the search is on for Elizabeth Johnson's 8 month old child.

Arizona authorities say that they know Johnson was in San Antonio, Texas from December 22nd through December 27th.

Her son Gabriel has not been seen since December 26th.

Police arrested Johnson Wednesday night at a youth hostel on Miami Beach.

Johnson was scheduled to appear in Maricopa County Superior Court's Family
Court in Phoenix for a Dec. 28 custodial hearing. But authorities say
she failed to appear and lost custodial rights to 8-month-old Gabriel
Johnson.Authorities say Elizabeth Johnson has yet to reveal the
wherebouts of her baby and they also are searching for the car she was
driving.

The FBI is now searching for missing 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson.
His mother, Elizabeth Johnson, 23, was caught Wednesday in Miami after spending Christmas in San Antonio.
According to police, Johnson left Arizona with her son, but, she does not have custodial rights to him.

In the past, Johnson made threats to harm the baby. She lost
custodial rights on December 28, 2009, when she failed to appear at a
custody hearing .
So far, there have been no signs of Baby Gabriel since December 26.
He was not with Johnson when she was arrested, and she refuses to say
what she did with him.
Johnson, who has a criminal record that does not include violence,
will not cooperate with investigators, and neither will her family
members, even though Johnson was facing a loss of custody. Her
desperate moves have baffled authorities.
Officers have not found Johnson's car, a white 1995 Oldsmobile Delta-88 with Arizona plates AGZ4214.
Anyone who has information regarding the whereabouts of little
Gabriel Johnson is asked to contact the FBI Hotline at 210-225-6741.

Police fear 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson could
be dead, sold or simply given away to a stranger after his mother, who
had threatened to harm him, was arrested in Miami Beach, Fla., without
her son.
Elizabeth Johnson was arrested in Florida on a custodial
interference warrant and is awaiting extradition. She invoked her right
to a lawyer and has not given detectives any information on her son's
whereabouts, said Sgt. Steve Carbajal, a Tempe Policespokesman.
Johnson made threats to the boy's father that she might hurt or kill
the boy, and later made threats to sell him or give the child up for
adoption, Carbajal said.
The drama began Dec. 27, when the boy's father, Logan McQueary, 25,
told police Johnson threatened to hurt the boy. Police then began
searching for the mother and son for a welfare check, since the mother
still had joint custody.
The next day, Johnson didn't show up for a scheduled custody hearing
the next day in Maricopa County Superior Court
and the father was automatically given custody. A nationwide warrant
was immediately issued for Johnson.
Police chased her to San Antonio, where they learned she was with
the child on Dec. 26. That's the last time police know the child was
alive and well.
Johnson was scheduled to check out of a hotel
in the area the next day, but didn't formally do so. Police caught up
to her four days later in Miami Beach, where local police were able to
find her and arrest her.
The child was not with her and she was no longer driving the same
vehicle she had in San Antonio. Police are not sure how she got to
Miami Beach and said she did not have family in the area.
Five days later, on Monday, police still have no leads.
"We have a big gap between San Antonio and Miami Beach," said Carbajal.

TEMPE, AZ -- The father of a Tempe infant missing for more than a week
says he still believes his son is alive, despite threats from the boy's
mother.

Tempe police spokesperson Molly Enright said the boy's
23-year-old mother, Elizabeth Johnson, was being sought in connection
with a custodial interference case, and was located in Florida last
week.

Tempe police Sgt. Steve Carbajal said Johnson left Arizona with her 8-month-old son Gabriel on December 18.

"Everybody
knew where she was and that was OK," Carbajal said. "She just wanted to
get away for a while and then these series of events happened where it
was a concern for the father that she would not show up for a hearing.
His fears were confirmed."

Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary, was
awarded sole custody of the infant when Elizabeth did not show up in
court on December 28.

According to officials, McQueary earlier reported that he had received threats from Johnson.

In
a press conference Monday, McQueary said he received several text
messages from Gabriel's mother saying she had killed the child.

But
McQueary says he believes Gabriel is still alive, considering he and
Johnson were last seen at a park near Six Flags in San Antonio, Texas
on December 26 -- after McQueary received the threatening messages.

On December 29th, Johnson was found and arrested at a Youth Hostel in Miami Beach, Florida.

Gabriel was not with her and detectives said she refuses to tell them where he is.

"She
was confronted, arrested and interviewed exhaustively about the
whereabouts of the child," said Wayne Jones, with Miami Beach Police.

"All we know at this point is Gabriel can be anywhere between San Antonio and Miami Beach," Tempe police say.

Carbajal
confirmed Johnson has reportedly made threats to harm Gabriel, but says
there is no evidence yet that the threats were carried out.

"Is
she saying these things to hurt the father or would she actually hurt
her own baby?" he said. "We don't know yet. We're hoping the baby is in
good condition and will be returned safely."

Police are still
looking for the vehicle Johnson was driving -- a white 1995 Oldsmobile
Delta-88, with Arizona license plate AGZ4214.

Anyone with
information as to the whereabouts of Gabriel Johnson is urged to
contact the Tempe Police Department at 480-350-8311 or Silent
Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377).

Tempe, Ariz. -- Tammi and Jack Smith say they
were looking out for the best interest of Gabriel Johnson when they
started spending time with him and his mother, Elizabeth Johnson,
nearly a month ago."We had a complete bond with him," said Tammi Peter-Smith.The
Smiths are confident little Gabriel is alive. They were
in contact with Elizabeth Johnson up until she was arrested, and they
could hear Gabriel through the phone in the background."I heard the baby babble...
I heard the baby cry, " Smith said.They even received text messaged disputing the
threats Elizabeth made about hurting Gabriel."Immediately
after she sent him the text that said she killed the baby, she sent us
a text saying that she did that to get back at the father and that the
baby was fine," said Jack Smith.Authorities say Johnson, who
failed to appear for a custodial hearing last week in a Maricopa County
court, was arrested Dec. 30 in Miami Beach on suspicion of custodial
interference.The Smiths spent significant time getting to know
Gabriel and have several pictures with the boy in their home, playing
with their own four-year-old daughter.They say they didn't
involve the father, Logan McQueary in the adoption procedures because
Elizabeth Johnson told them he was abusive."As soon as she got
away from Logan and we had the baby, and he was not a part of her life,
all of the sudden she had a bright cheery attitude about herself," said
Tammi Smith.But at an emotional press conference Monday,
McQueary said that after Gabriel disappeared, the Smiths tried to
strong-arm him into giving up his child."When Gabriel
disappeared, they said to me basically if you really care about your
son and you want him back and you want Elizabeth to bring him back,
than you'll sign the paperwork and she'll bring him back," said Logan
McQueary.The Smiths said they were only passing along the
messages they were getting from Elizabeth. They also say they are
cooperating fully with the investigation and no longer believe the
adoption is possible."Now the father is so deeply into this that his ego would
never allow him to sign papers," said SmithBut they still may have a role to play.
The Smiths believe Elizabeth Johnson will tell them Gabriel's location Tuesday.
"She wants to talk to me tomorrow at 2 o'clock to see if I will help her
with attorneys to gain custody of Gabriel. If she hurt the baby, I
don't think she would be trying to get custody," Tammi Smith said.
If you have any information that could help investigators in this case.
You are asked to call Silent Witness at 1-480-WITNESS.

SAN ANTONIO
— Authorities have found the vehicle belonging to an Arizona mother who has refused to say where her 8-month-old son is.
FBI
spokesman Eric Vasys says San Antonio police and FBI agents found the
vehicle outside a San Antonio motel Tuesday night and are processing
the car for evidence that might point to the whereabouts of 8-month-old
Gabriel Johnson. There were no obvious signs of violence.
Johnson's
mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, was arrested in Miami Beach,
Fla., last week after she failed to appear for a custodial hearing in
Phoenix. The baby's father told authorities the mother had threatened
the child.
She has refused to say where the baby is.

Seven months ago, Tammi Peters Smith saw a young, worn-out mother at an airport during a long layover.
Elizabeth Johnson, 23, looked tired and depressed as she held her newborn son, Smith said.
"I looked at that situation and said, 'She doesn't want that baby,'"
Smith said, before walking over to Johnson and asking her if she
was looking for someone to adopt her child.
"She said, 'yes, but the dad won't sign the papers,'" Smith said.
Now the baby, Gabriel, is at the center of a nationwide search.
He has been missing for nearly three weeks since his mother took off with him from Tempe
and police are scrambling for clues as more details emerge in the
bizarre story involving fighting young parents and the couple who
wanted to adopt their son.
Smith said she and her husband, Jack, wanted to adopt Gabriel and
that both of his parents wanted to give him up at different times,
though never seemed to be on the same page about it.
Logan McQueary, 25, told reporters Monday that wasn't the case,
and said he felt extorted by the family.
Johnson, his ex-girlfriend, was arrested in Miami on Dec. 30 without
her son, who was last seen by witnesses in San Antonio, Tex., on Dec.
26. The next day she sent Logan a text message telling him she'd killed the baby.
That's when he went to the police.
At pre-scheduled hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court the
following day, on Dec. 28, a judge automatically awarded McQueary the
custody of the child when Johnson didn't show up. A warrant for
custodial interference was issued immediately and since her arrest,
she's invoked her right to remain silent and refused to say what
happened to the child.
Police also haven't found her 1995 white Oldsmobile Delta 88. She's awaiting extradition in Miami.
Smith said she's been working with police and had sporadic contact
with Johnson up until her arrest, including a text following up the one
she sent Logan saying that she hadn't harmed Gabriel. Rather, she said,
she sent him the text to get back at him.
Smith said neither parent is fit, pointing to McQueary's past
run-ins with the law, including 2004 burglary charges, to which he
pleaded guilty and served nearly four and a half years probation.
"Neither of them want the baby," said Smith, who lives North Scottsdale
and owns a colon hydrotherapy practice with several locations around
the Valley. "Most likely she's left him with another family she's
chosen like she had chosen us."
Police have no idea where the child is, saying they can't account
for the mother's whereabouts during the four days between her stay in
San Antonio and her arrest in Miami.
"We were the duped family between him and her and their problems," Smith said.
Smith also she and her husband had temporary guardianship of the boy
in late November and early December for about 10 to 12 days while the
couple was deciding what to do.
A Tempe detective was at the Smith home when they took in Gabriel and saw paperwork on
the matter, though spokesman Sgt. Steve Carbajal said it's unclear if
there the documents had any authority since they weren't court-issued.
Gabriel went back to living with Johnson, and she and the boy's
father broke up on Dec. 8. He left the home where they were living
together, and the next day she called him at work to ask him to sign
over his rights, McQueary said at the news conference Monday.
He refused and he hasn't seen Gabriel since.
Smith said she and her husband spoke to Johnson and tried to coax
her to return, but had little luck. They cooperated with police, but
didn't offer any information on where Gabriel might be, Carbajal said,
disputing earlier reports that the couple hadn't been talking with
police.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Bob Johnson said his granddaughter, Elizabeth, has always been secretive.
"If she didn't want you to know something, you ain't gonna find out," Johnson said.He
said moving in and out of five foster homes as a child made her that
way. But he said the straight "A" student also developed an irrational
temper that led to bouts of rage."She should have sought professional help.
She did seek help for post partum depression and she was on medication
and during that time she seemed a lot more mellow and everything was better," Bob Johnson said.
But she stopped taking that medication shortly before she hopped in Bob
Johnson's car with 8-month-old Gabriel and headed to Texas.
"She had this cockamamie idea that she was going to change her Social Security number
and name and his Social Security number and name and run forever,"
Bob Johnson said.Instead, Elizabeth Johnson said she simply gave Gabriel
to a couple she met in a park."I trusted them. I believe in my heart
they're good people," said Elizabeth Johnson on the phone from jail.
But her grandfather doesn't buy it. He tried to envision her scenario.'Oh
by the way, how would you like to have a baby, oh it's free, yeah it's
free,' Bob Johnson said. "That's hard. That's hard to really believe,
but it's a simple story. It's a story that you can repeat without
stumbling."The last time Bob Johnson saw Gabriel was when the
whole family got together for Thanksgiving. He has pictures of
Elizabeth Johnson posing with the boy's father, Logan McQueary.
"She's the sweet Elizabeth," Bob Johnson said when pointing to a picture of her smiling.He
thinks she gave Gabriel to a family in Texas, and is lying now so the
boy will never be found. But she has threatened to harm the child, and
Bob Johnson wonders if her past and her struggles with self control
eventually got the best of her."It's possible that in a moment
of anger, depression, whatever, that she carried out her threat. I
don't even want to think about it because, what a waste. What a waste,"
said Bob Johnson.

Raw: Missing Baby Mom Speaks With CBS 5 News

Elizabeth Johnson reveals new details in an exclusive CBS 5 News phone interview.

Audio: http://www.kpho.com/video/22155911/index.html

PHOENIX - The case of missing baby Gabriel Johnson has taken another bizarre twist.
Tempe Police are now calling the Scottsdale couple, Jack and Tammi
Smith, who offered to adopt the little boy "persons of interest in the
case."
"We have received some indications that the Smiths maybe have
more information than they're telling investigators," said Tempe Police
Sergeant Steve Carbajal.
Carbajal said the withheld information could lead them to the missing
8-month-old baby, who police believe is alive.
In the meantime the Smiths insist they do not know where the
little boy is, and they told members of the media that they would
take polygraph tests to prove it. Regardless, Carbajal said the most
important thing is not catching who
did this, but instead finding the child, who has not been seen since
Dec. 26, safe. "If somebody has baby Gabriel and you are fearful of any law
enforcement trouble, bring him forward to a fire station, a hospital,"
he said. "Put him somewhere where he can be safe."

Police have named a couple who wanted to adopt a 8-month-old Tempe
baby as persons of interest in his disappearance, weeks after the boy's
mother left with the child and was then arrested in Miami without him.
Police believe Jack and Tammi Smith, of Scottsdale
have information that could lead to finding Gabriel but are not
cooperating with investigators, said Tempe police Sgt. Steve Carbajal.
Tammi Smith told reportersearlier this week that she had
been texting and talking to Elizabeth Johnson, the baby's mother, up
until her arrest, although Smith insisted she was trying to find out
where the baby was and coax Johnson into returning.
Logan McQueary, the child's father, told reporters that he felt
extorted by the couple and that they told him the only way Johnson
would come home is if he would agree to sign over his rights.
Tammi Smith disputed that and said she was only trying to help get Gabriel back in Arizona.
The child was last seen with his mother in San Antonio, where she
spent Dec. 22 to 27 at two motels in the city. She then left her car at
a Motel 6 near a bus stop. She was tracked down and arrested in Miami
on Dec. 30.
Authorities say that since her arrest, she's refused to tell
investigators what she did with the child, although she told a local media
that she gave the baby to a couple she met in a San Antonio park.
Originally, she told the boy's father in a text message and in a phone call
that she had killed the child and was leaving the country, according to
court documents. She told him she would call him and let him know where
he could find the child's body, the documents state.
McQueary has since said he "has a feeling" that his son is alive, and Police
have been hopeful that's the case. The police have "indication" that
Gabriel is alive, Sgt. Carbajal said, but he added they have no
definitive location.
Police have questioned the Smiths since the ordeal began.
Tammi Smith claims that she met Johnson
at an airport during a layover. She spotted the young mother and said
she looked tired and depressed.
Smith said she went up to Johnson and asked if she was looking fro someone
to adopt the child, and Johnson said yes, but that the father refused to sign over his rights.
Since then, the Smiths said they had been working with Gabriel's
parents for the adoption that both McQueary and Johnson reportedly
wanted. The child's parents, however, never seemed to be on the same
page, Tammi Smith said.
McQueary challenged that account and said he never favored an adoption.
Johnson is scheduled for a Jan. 19 extradition hearing in Miami before
11th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel.
Police have set up a new tip line with the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children and are asking anyone with information
on where Gabriel might be to call 1-800-THE-LOST, or 1-800-843-6578.

mom_in_il wrote:Raw: Missing Baby Mom Speaks With CBS 5 News

Elizabeth Johnson reveals new details in an exclusive CBS 5 News phone interview.

Audio: http://www.kpho.com/video/22155911/index.html

---This is excellent and she gives a different point of view on Logan. Of course, as we all know there are THREE sides to every story...
His side, Her side and the RIGHT SIDE!
Thanks for posting MIL!

TEMPE, Ariz. - January 8, 2010 --
A couple from Scottsdale, Ariz., who wanted to adopt a woman's baby may
know more about the missing child's whereabouts than they're telling
investigators, police said Thursday. Jack and Terri Smith are now "persons of interest" in the investigation
into the disappearance of 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson, according to
Tempe police spokesman Sgt. Steve Carbajal. The baby was last seen in San Antonio in late December with his 23-year-old mother, Elizabeth Johnson.Johnson was arrested last week in Florida on suspicion of custodial
interference after she didn't show up for a custody hearing in Arizona.
Her car was later found by the FBI in San Antonio. She has since
told a Phoenix television station that she gave the boy away in San
Antonio. She made the statement after she sent a text message to her
ex-boyfriend telling him she had killed the baby. Police believe the baby has not been harmed."We are getting some indications that Gabriel is alive," Carbajal said
Thursday. "We can't say specifically just what those are, but we are
getting some indications that those are correct." The Smiths
have given numerous media interviews in recent days where they said
they met Johnson at an airport during a long layover and befriended
her. Terri Smith said the young mother wanted to give up her baby for
adoption but the ex-boyfriend wouldn't go along. Terri Smith
told the media in Phoenix on Thursday that the couple has cooperated
fully with police and have nothing to hide. The baby's father,
Logan McQueary, has said Johnson tried several times to get him to sign
away his parental rights but that he refused. Tempe police have
been inundated with tips and are now directing callers to the National
Center for Missing or Exploited Children. Carbajal urged anyone
who has the baby to bring him to a safe place like a fire station or a
hospital if they are afraid to come forward. "Our focus has always been the same, and that is locating Gabriel," he said.