Police search for 9-year-old girl missing after her little sister is found locked in a closet. After police rescue a malnourished child from a closet, Austin police work to track down her missing 9-year-old sister, Ava Marie Gonzales, who is now nine, remains unaccounted for. Austin police respond to a home in Del Valle after receiving a 911 call about a 7-year-old girl is discovered starved and locked inside a bedroom closet. Six other children are also found in the home, but police say it appears they are physically healthy. According to reports, the child was soiled and barricaded in a closet with heavy boxes blocking the door.
An arrest affidavit reveals Virginia Marie Gonzales is accused of locking the 7-year-old girl in a closet for “weeks at a time.” The affidavit further states the girl’s grandmother told police that the child had trouble controlling her bladder and often ate things she shouldn’t. This allegedly led to her siblings being instructed to keep her locked in the closet.
The 7-year-old was hospitalized and is now recovering. During the investigation, detectives learn about another child, Ava, who has been missing for years. Virginia Marie Gonzales, Ava ‘s mother, was arrested on a charge of serious injury to a child in connection with the 7-year-old’s case. According to police, the missing now 9-year-old child was last seen when she was just 2 years old and in the custody of her mother, Virginia Marie Gonzales.
Joining Nancy Grace today,
- LeAnne Marie, friend of mom, Virginia Gonzales
- Bronwyn Blake- Adjunct Professor, University of Texas School of Law; Chief Legal Officer, Texas Advocacy Project; Founder: Teen Justice Initiative, advocating for teen victims of dating violence. Website: texasadvocacyproject.org; Facebook and Instagram: @TexasAdvocacyProject
- Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, AngelaArnoldMD.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital
- Daryl Parker - Fmr. Lieutenant in the Fannin County Sheriff's Office / Private Investigator at Blackfish Intelligence; Former Marine, Former Texas police officer; has worked with the Innocence Project of Texas for the last ten years; website: wwww.blackfishintel.com; instagram: @blackfishintel, FB – blackfishintelligence
- Virginia Bagby - Director of the ChildHelp National Child Abuse Hotline, website: ChildHelp.org; Facebook and Instagram: @ChildHelp
- Dr Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), NEW Podcast "Mayhem in the Morgue" launching soon, Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University)
- Christina Aguayo- Investigative Reporter, website: www.ChristinaAguayoNews.Com, Facebook: @ChristinaAguayoNews, Instagram: @Christina.AguayoNews
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A little girl just seven
years old found locked in a closet, starved at best,
getting one corn dog a day, and tonight the search
is on for her little sister, Lassigne two thousand and seventeen.
(00:26):
I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for
being with us. With me an all start pound to
make sense of what we know right now. Listen to this.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
On April third, twenty twenty five, Austin Police Department responded
to a nine to one to one call for a
seven year old child that was found locked in a
closet and starving. The seven year old was immediately taken
to a local hospital for medical treatment and it's currently recovering.
There were six other children found in the home that
appeared physically healthy.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Police officers at an Austin apartment find a severely malneurish
year old girl who is barricaded in a bedroom closet.
The child has found soiled, weighing just twenty nine pounds
and has been confined to a three foot by two
foot clauset space for approximately a month. Investigators find the
child has been given one corn dog and a half
a cup of water a day, doctors at Deell Children's
(01:16):
Medical Center determined the little girl is suffering moderate to
severe cerebral atrophy from prolonged malnutrition, damage from which she
will never recover.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
What did that, even, Maian? How can a child survive
day after day, week after week, month after month locked
in a dark closet, living off nothing? Again with me
an all star panel, But first straight out to Christina
Ohio joining US investigative reporter Christina this child locked in
(01:49):
a closet. What happened?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, according to the affidavit, when police got there, When
the caller called in for the welfare check and police
got there, they found a seven year old little girl
locked in a closet. It was barricaded by seventy five
pounds of boxes. They opened that door, they found that
child in there. She was soiled, surrounded by feces. She
was severely malnourished. She had dark spots all over her body,
(02:13):
which is a sign of severe malnourishment. They took her,
of course, to the hospital where she weighed twenty nine pounds,
and medical personnel say that because of the prolonged starvation
of that little girl that she will have permanent brain damage.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Permanent brain damage caused by starvation. Joining me, Virginia Bagbee,
Director of Child Help, National child abuse hotline Child Help Virginia,
thank you for being with us. Many people don't know
that starving a child can result in permanent brain damage.
(02:51):
Have you ever seen anything like it before, Virginia.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
We have definitely heard about cases like this, and they
happen all too often.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Doctor Kendall Crowned, Chief Medical Examiner, Terran County. That's fort worth,
never a lack of business. He is the esteemed lecturer
at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU and has
just launched a hit podcast, Mayhem in the More. Doctor
Kendle Crowns, thank you for being with us. I know
that you heard this, but let me repeat it again.
(03:18):
A seven year old little girl barricaded in a locked
bedroom closet lot from the outside soiled. A seven year
old weighing just twenty nine pounds, confined to a three
by two foot closet, she is being given at most
one corn dog and a half cup of water a day.
(03:42):
She is now suffering permanent, moderate to severe cerebral atrophy
from prolonged malnutrition. The dock states she will never recover.
Could you interpret that please?
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Certainly? Not being given much food or water. I mean
a corn dog and a cup of water is not
much for a child or anybody for that matter. Her
body is losing its depleting its muscle, depleting its stores,
so her muscles are wasting away, her bones are starting
to not form properly, and she's being starved. And part
(04:21):
of being starve results in your cardiac muscle or your
heart muscle mass starting to also fade away or go away,
which reduces your heart's ability to pump your blood, which
results in your kidney's failing and you go into kidney failure.
You also start having gut issues as well, and this
(04:42):
can all affect your brain and your brain's development, especially
in a child. So all those factors combined will result
in her having these issues that the doctors are describing.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Nonder general crowns, a child of seven years old should
weigh around seventy pounds forty five to seventy pounds, Is
that right?
Speaker 6 (05:02):
Yes, that would be about the average pit of a
child at seven.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
A seven year old average. Of course, they grow in
different ways. The average is fifty one pounds for a
seven year old child, but it ranges from forty three
to seventy So where would you place twenty nine pounds
in that spectrum? Twenty nine pounds if a seven year
(05:32):
old can weigh up to seventy three, she's not even
half the weight of a seven year old.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
Yeah, the weight you're describing as a severely malnourished child,
So she's been starved for a prolonged period of time.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
How does that make a child brain damaged?
Speaker 6 (05:49):
It's from the body shutting down, the lack of food,
the lack of loss of muscle mass, the heart muscle
mass being lost and not circulating properly, the organs aren't
getting enough oxy genated blood, and of course the brain's
part of this, so the brain's not getting proper oxygenation. Also,
the brain relies on glucose or sugars to grow and develop,
(06:11):
and it's not getting that as well, So the brain
is basically maldeveloped, not getting enough oxygen, so you get
brain damage.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Doctor Crowns, isn't it true that a child weighing twenty
nine pounds typically, and I'm basing this on charts of
statistics that I prepared, is typically a twenty two month
old child at twenty nine pounds.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
Yes, I would be correct.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
A seven year old little girl, doctor Tyndall Crowns, that
should weigh seventy one pounds fifty one to seventy one
pounds weighs twenty nine pounds. With a child starving, what
would she be enduring on the floor of that locked closet,
Doctor Crowns.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
She would be the enduring infusion, dehydration or a very
dry mouth or throat. It be dry, She'd have trouble swallowing,
She'd be very tired and just not able to even move.
And then you would add on to that the fact
that without the food she'd start hallucinating and then eventually
just slip into a coma and finally die.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Doctor Jendal Crowns. Would the child lose her hair? I
know that she's losing all muscle tone. Would she be
losing her hair? Would her faculties or hearing her sight?
Would that be intact? And what would her brain function
be lying on the floor of a dark closet starving.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
So yes, hair often will fall out in individuals who
are starved. Her brain function would be very minimal. She'd
be confused, even possibly hallucinating. And just completely fatigued and
not even feeling like moving.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Is it true? Doctor General Crowns that when someone has
been starved of prolonged period of time, is in this case,
when you give them food they can't even eat it.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
Yes, you can have what is called if you give
a person who's been starved, you feed them too quickly,
you can have what is called refeeding syndrome, where they
actually will from the food intake. It will cause so
much of a shock to their body that they can die.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Guys, When police show up to a home, they find
six children and then a seventh locked in a closet
weighing just twenty nine pounds, but ironically amazingly listen to
the condition of the other six children.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Six other children in the apartment, ranging in age from
two to fourteen years old, are found to be an
apparently good physical condition. The apartment's pantry, refrigerator in freezer
are stocked with various food items. The oldest children were
given strict orders to put the little girl in the
closet because she had bladder can issues and she was
trying to eat things she wasn't supposed to. During the investigation,
(09:04):
police learn there's an eighth child, Ava Marie, who is
not in the home with the other children.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
We've got one starved child who has permanent brain damage.
A seven year old little girl weighing twenty nine pounds
locked in the closet. Now I've got a missing child too.
But to doctor angel Arnold joining me, renowned psychiatrist out
of the Atlanta jurisdiction at ANGELA Arnold MD dot com,
(09:30):
Doctor Angie, thank you for being with us. Did you
hear what was just reported that there were six other
children in the home seemingly healthy, and they were encouraged
to keep the little girl locked in a closet, starving
her because the little girl would eat things she wasn't
(09:51):
supposed to eat. You know what, doctor Angie, I've heard
every excuse in the book about why parents starve the children. Oh,
the child ate a candy bar, I'll starve it. The
child eats too much, I'll starve it. The child has behaved,
I'll starve it. I mean, there are a million excuses
I have heard as to why moms and dads starve
(10:15):
the baby dead. But yet we see six other children
seemingly healthy, And.
Speaker 7 (10:21):
This is oftentimes what we do see in cases like this, Nancy,
So I the other children need to be taken care
of as well as this goes on, because they have
been suffering something called Stockholm syndrome. They want to They
are so scared of the abuse that they see being
(10:42):
heaped on this other child that they that they go
into it with their mother literally to protect themselves. Okay,
because Nancy, imagine how scared these other children are. They
never know who's going to be next to be locked
in that closet. So they're going to listen to the mama.
They're going to do what she says. And I think
(11:04):
that they could probably also psychologically sort of break off
from from feeling towards the child that is being locked
in the closet so that they can protect themselves. Because
this is chaos that this family is living in. It
is complete and utter chaos, and all of those other
(11:27):
children are suffering. They may not be brain dead, brain damaged.
Excuse me, they are not being you know, they're not
being starved, but they are also being damaged by this
so called mother of theirs.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
A missing child case takes a dark turn after a
disturbing discovery inside a family home.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
It brings to mind the case of another seven year
old child, Adrian Jones, there wise just handed down a
multimillion dollar verdict against the state of Kentucky. Adrian Jones
was systematically starved, forced by his mother and father to
(12:16):
watch the rest of the family eight. They would put
bars of soap in his mouth while everyone else ate
forced him to stand outside, chin deep in a pool
until finally the boy died. They killed the boy. Listen.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Former bailbondsman Michael Jones is awarding custody of his son,
Adrian Jones, and takes the boy away from his mother.
For the next four years, Adrian is regularly starved, rudely beaten,
tortured taste, and locked in a shower naked for months.
Adrian's brothers and sisters do not suffer the same fate.
Adrian is singled out by his father and stepmother. When
the child dies, Michael Jones buys two pigs and doesn't
(13:00):
feed them while the Adrian's body is left in the
shower for two weeks. When the pigs are starving, Michael
Jones feeds his son to the pigs. Michael and Heather
Jones pleaded guilty to first yeary murder and are serving
twenty five years to life.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So in one closet, we've got the child starved and
a missing child. And back to you, doctor Anngie Arnold,
you said the other siblings are gonna have to be
in treatment. You're right, because they didn't just watch their
sister starve slowly to death. They were forced to keep
her in the closet themselves. They're going to go the
(13:32):
rest of their lives thinking they starved their sister and
now she's got permanent brain damage. Antie, that's exactly correct, Nancy.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
These children have been abused in a different way, and
it's all for a matter of control. It's to keep
all of those children in control, Nancy, because you know,
you can only imagine there's one mother all of these children.
If somebody got old enough to decide, you know, we
really shouldn't be treating this person them this way, they
(14:01):
can possibly escape or something like this, right, But that
mother is making sure that they are so terrified. They
are so terrified in the home that they live in,
and she and she feeds them so that they have
this odd relationship where with the mother where they still
need her, but they're scared of her, so that none
(14:24):
of them will go against her to.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Brown Blake joining US agent, professor of University Texas School
of Law, Chief Legal officer Texas Advocacy Project, Brown, thank
you for being with us. I've seen it many many times,
like in Adrian Jones, like in this case, for one
child out of the whole group is singled out and
(14:48):
they're the ones that starved. That child is the one
that's abused. I don't understand the phenomena, but I accept
it because I've seen it over and over, even cases
that prosecuted other children would go unscathed while the one
child would end up dead.
Speaker 9 (15:08):
The idea that abuse is all about power and control
really helps explain this dynamic. This person is not out
of control. They're being very calculated and systematic in who
they abuse and how so all of those children experienced abuse,
just in different ways.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Guys. Not only do we have a child starved your death,
languishing on the floor of a locked closet, we have
a missing child. Listen.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
During the investigation, police discovered that there was an eighth
child who was not found inside the home. The missing
nine year old child was identified as Ava Marie Gonzalez.
Missing Persons detectives determined that Ava was last seen in
December twenty seventeen, when she was two years old and
in the custody of her mother, Virginia Marie Gonzalez.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Learning there should be eight children in the apartment, not
just the seven they found, police opened an investigation and
quickly determined Ava Marie has not been seen by family
or friends since she was two years old in twenty
seventeen in custody of her mother, Virginia Gonzalez. Considering the
condition of Ava's seven year old sister when she was found,
Austin police detectives are very concerned about Ava's welfare.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So they've got six children seemingly healthy, you've got one
child starved locked in a closet, and now you've got
a missing child. Joining me is a special guest. This
is Leanne Marie, friend of the children's mother, Virginia Gonzalez. Leanne,
thank you for being with us, Yes, ma'am, Leanne Marie.
(16:43):
Tell me about Virginia Gonzalez.
Speaker 10 (16:46):
So from what I know, she was just a normal person.
Speaker 11 (16:52):
I mean, honestly, she never really had her kids with her,
like you know, presence the only one that I seen
with her in the past year was the oldest one,
the fourteen year old.
Speaker 10 (17:04):
Besides that, we never knew that she had, you know,
the little girl. We only knew of boys.
Speaker 11 (17:13):
So she was just a typical person, partying out in
the clubs and the bars. I mean, she she was
just she never lived like she even had nine eight
nine kids.
Speaker 10 (17:27):
Very very you're scaring me.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Now there's mommy, Hi mom, Yeah, but there she is.
Party down mom. Where are your children right now? William
Marine just said something that scared me? Okay, hold on,
So I know that there are six children in the home,
healthy ish, one starved in a closet, and one missing.
That's eight. But you mentioned nine. The possibility of a
(17:53):
ninth child, yes, ma'am, very ninth child.
Speaker 11 (17:56):
Yes, So it's right now they're saying that this night child,
he is not he does not have a social social
security here in Texas, so he's not registered here in Texas.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Okay, Darryl Parker, I need you and I need you
now there's another missing child. Did you hear that? Darryl Parker,
former Lieutenant Fannin County Sheriff's Office, former marine, former Texas
police officer, helped me. So we're learning right now that
there's a ninth child that's in the wind. Nobody knows
(18:28):
how old the child is, where it is, it doesn't
have a Texas Social Security number.
Speaker 12 (18:32):
Yeah, Nancy, that's pretty concerning. I know that the mom
has already made several statements to police that are inconsistent
about the child that is missing already that they already
know about. And it'll be interesting to see if some
follow up questioning can reveal anything about this ninth child.
Possible ninth child.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Virginia Bagby joining us from Child Help National Abuse Hotline
going into this right now. I knew that there were
eight children, six in the home, one starve near death
with brain damage, and one missing since twenty seventeen. Now
I'm hearing about child number nine. Is that child dead?
(19:13):
I mean, what do you do when you get a
call like this the Child Help hotline?
Speaker 5 (19:18):
Well, this is a really difficult one.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I would encourage.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Somebody to reach out to the local hospitals potentially where
all the other children have been born, to see if
they have any record. This is very concerning to have
two children missing. Now these other children have probably are
aware that they have siblings that are missing. Add that
to the terror. They've been experiencing.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 8 (19:50):
A shocking discovery inside a home leads police to investigate
a long buried secret.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Okay, Liam Marie is joining U. A friend of the mom,
Virginia Gonzales MS murray, thank you because what you've just
said could save a child's life. Yes, However, do you
know Leanne is the ninth child older younger girl.
Speaker 11 (20:14):
Boy, it's a boy and he is around age nine
to ten years old. So she has a fourteen, an eleven,
A ten, A nine, A seven.
Speaker 10 (20:28):
I know she has two three year olds the newborn.
So there's there's there's nine. From what I'm hearing right now.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay, hold on, let me have this up. There's a
fourteen year old, an eleven year old, a ten year old,
A nine year old is the boy that you think
is missing? A seven year old is a little girl
starved in the closet? Two three year old? Ok one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven eight, I'm missing somebody fourteen, eleven, ten nine missed
(20:59):
a three and three and a kneeborn. What now?
Speaker 11 (21:03):
So Eva's around eight nine years old and then the
little boys right after her eleven months difference.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You stated that Virginia Gonzales, the mother the starving little
girl and the other missing girl, was quote normal would
go partying at the clubs and the bars. Hey, I
don't have a problem with that party down mommy, But
(21:30):
what would she ever mention who was taking care of
the children while she's at the bar.
Speaker 11 (21:35):
So, from what we understand was that the kids, all
the kids were left with the grandmother of She has
three kids that belonged to one father and they were
that was who she was with the past seven years,
and so they were supposedly all living with the grandmother.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
You're seeing mommy now out partying on a boat, drinking
straight out of a vodka mini bottle.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
Oop.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
There's she is in a bar. Why bother with a glass? Seriously,
why who needs a glass when you can drink straight
from the bottle. There's mommy chowing down on some free
toes and chips on a boat while her twenty nine
pound seven year old daughter is locked in a closet
(22:20):
at home. Okay, DOCTRINNGI Arnold, I need to shrink because
why is she had on a boat partying while her
child is starving in a closet and two children are missing, right.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
And Nancy can she how can she just be so
unattached from all of these children that she's having. So
my question is why is she having all of these children?
And I'm sorry, is it to support her lifestyle? And
where are the fathers of these children? We always have
to ask where is We're always you know, why isn't
(22:53):
the mother taking care of them? Okay, yeah, she is
a horrible person that has done horrible things to at
least two of her children that know about. Where are
the fathers of these children? And why are any of
them involved? But Nancy, I don't believe she should be
out partying on our boat. I think that when you
have children, you should be at home taking care of
your children and not relying on someone else to take
(23:13):
care of them, because again we don't know how children
take that, but oftentimes when mothers are not around, children
do since a fear of abandonment when their mother is
not taking care of them.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
But to Ron, when Blake joining us as junct professor
University takes as school of law, Rowen, I'm not the
church lady. If mom wants to party, go ahead. If
mom wants to vape and smoke, have at it. The
issue is intent. When she is out partying in her
club and bar finery, her child is at home starving
(23:52):
and two of them are missing. Now that goes to intent.
When I'm trying to prove any child neglect to a jury,
that's when that type of video, let's see the video
again comes in to play. I couldn't care less what
mommy whares or what Barshi goes to. Don't care, But
(24:13):
if your child is at home starving in a closet,
suddenly your behavior, your actions during that time are relevant.
Speaker 9 (24:23):
Absolutely. I can tell you're thinking like a prosecutor. The
contrast between the images you're showing of these this child
and then her mother partying, it tells the whole story there.
And unfortunately many of users present one face to some people,
can be very charming to some people. And then we
hear about these horrible things happening at home too.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Doctor Kimmel Crown's is joining me, Chief Medical Examiner, Terrant County,
that's fort Worth. Doctor Kimmel Crowns. I've got one child
starved almost beyond recognition, her bones sticking out, you know,
like they're visible through the skin. I've got that child
(25:04):
starved almost dead, permanent brain injury. I've got a missing
little girl, and now I'm learning from leam Marie there's
another boy missing that is about one, two three fourth
in the progression line of children. Leam Marie joining us
a friend of mom Virginia Gonzales. Did you know that
(25:27):
Ava was missing?
Speaker 10 (25:28):
No, we had no idea.
Speaker 11 (25:31):
Back in twenty eighteen, when I originally first met Virginia,
we only knew of three little boys. So after talking
to mutual friends and all concluding that she had Ava's
hair shaved like a boy, she never had Ava in
her possess. I mean, she never let us know that
(25:53):
it was a girl. She had her presented as a
boy to all of us, so we were all in shock.
We didn't nobody knew that she had Ava.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Leanne, I don't understand this. So she showed you Ava,
But this is the missing child, not the starving child. Right,
you saw Ava, and she had her dressed like a
boy with her head shaved.
Speaker 11 (26:19):
She had her hair, She had him. She had a faid,
He had a faid. I definitely confirmed this with her
landlord and roommates that she lived.
Speaker 10 (26:30):
With back in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 11 (26:33):
Everybody concluded that and confirmed that it was a little boy.
Speaker 10 (26:37):
It was not nobody knew she had a little.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Girl, leanne knowing the mother. Why do you think she
shaved the little girl's head and passed her off as
a boy.
Speaker 11 (26:47):
I feel like that she had a anger issue with
the little girls because of the way her mother treated
her back when she was little, and I think that
she was taken it out on these little girls because
from all the evidence and information that I've collected, it's
all based on the girls.
Speaker 10 (27:08):
So you know, she sold the baby who was a
little girl that was just born in March. She starved
a re.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Reading whoa, whoa, whoa. My head is spinning. What did
you just say she sold a baby?
Speaker 10 (27:19):
Yes, and CPS just found that baby.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
When okay, glads, that's the newborn baby that was just
born in March, So that baby's been sold. Yes, but
see how much does she get from the baby?
Speaker 10 (27:30):
From what I heard twenty five k.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Christina Whyo tell me about the newborn baby girl that
just got sold?
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Well, apparently from my investigations online and none of this
has been confirmed yet, but she did have this newborn
baby and according to all person who says that they
are a close relative of the family. She did have
a newborn baby.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
It was sold to a couple.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
So if that is in fact the case, there could
be a possibility that Aban Marigan Solace was also sold,
and that something that will have to be looked into,
because it would be my opic of us to think
that that possibility isn't out there.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
You know what, Christina Ariyah, I can only hope and
pray that she was sold and that she's alive and
being treated better than the little seven year old to
Leanne Marie, a friend of mom Virginia Gonzalez. Why did
she sell her baby?
Speaker 11 (28:25):
I'm guessing financial issues, But at the same time, you know,
all the money was going downtown Sixth Street and at
the strip clubs. I mean, she was just making it
rain with money and buying bottles after bottles and buying
everybody buying the bar out. I mean, that's where I
seen the money going. I didn't see anything.
Speaker 10 (28:45):
Else that she had that.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
I mean, she didn't even have a vehicle, you know
what I mean. So, I mean I think all the
money was just going to party in I don't think
it was ever to just take care of her and
the rest of the kids.
Speaker 10 (28:56):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I noticed in the party video she's got a Gucci
bags strapped around her front. Was that a fake? Was
that a fruity? A fake Gucci?
Speaker 11 (29:06):
From my understanding, everything that the police found in her
room was everything was name brand. I don't think it
was fake, but I do now know that a video
was taped back in May a year ago. She would
just cover up her stomach. I mean she would, honestly
(29:27):
now that I'm thinking, I'm thinking she was trying to.
Speaker 10 (29:29):
Hide the pregnancy. Why because she was out there partying.
Speaker 11 (29:32):
I mean on the boat party, which was in September
of twenty twenty four, my birthday. You can see in
the video she was kind of closed. She didn't take
the whole shot. And I got other, you know, videos
of footage of her putting the shots on the side
when people weren't watching. So I think she knew she
was pregnant, but she just didn't want the other the
(29:53):
world to know that she was pregnant. So she would
literally buy bottles, get everybody drunk, and guess what, then
nobody notices anything.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Lean question, did she discuss openly that she was selling
the baby?
Speaker 10 (30:06):
No, no, ma'am.
Speaker 11 (30:07):
I found that out through the one of the children's families,
the ones that I've been speaking with since the very
beginning of the case, when it first started getting investigated.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Do you know who she sold the baby too?
Speaker 10 (30:22):
I do not know them personally. I just know that
it was a couple.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Well, I am why did she keep having children if
she hated them so much?
Speaker 11 (30:29):
I don't think that she was having the children to,
you know, just be this mother and to take care
of them. I think she was living off the benefits
the snap and the EBT and the fathers. I think
that was how she would hold some of these men,
you know, in her life, because a lot of them
didn't deal with the children. They only dealt with her,
(30:51):
And a lot of them didn't want the children, they
just wanted her. So I think that it was like
the kids were like a tool for the men. You
know how they say there's womenizers. I think she was
like that with the men, like where she idolized men
before her children.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Did anyone ever wonder who would be taking care of
the children while she's out partying.
Speaker 11 (31:13):
So from my friendship experience with her, she would come
and go, so one minute she was out here popping
bottles for about two or three months, and then she'll
go ghost for six months a year, and then she'll.
Speaker 10 (31:27):
Pop out out of nowhere again. So it wasn't really
she was really just screep with the children.
Speaker 11 (31:33):
Like I said, I only went to her that apartment
where they found the child that was starving and the
other six children. I only went to that apartment one time,
which was to go pick her up, and she it
was clean. It was the fourteen year old was the
only one there. I didn't ask because every time I
asked about the children, it was that they were with her,
(31:55):
the grandmother, because her baby daddy was, you know, crazy
after her, so she just left the children at him
so he would be calm, is what she would tell us.
Speaker 8 (32:08):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace, a shocking discovery inside a
home leads police to investigate a long buried secret.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
So you think that she's having the children in order
to get state benefits.
Speaker 10 (32:26):
I don't think it's just state benefits.
Speaker 11 (32:28):
I think, like I said, it's more of a tool
for the men that she was in love with. I mean,
I mean some of them, some of the from what
I'm understanding too, is some of the kids. I mean
she don't even know who the fathers is to some
of the kids. I mean, she was known for being
in the club, you know, with multiple men, So I
mean I don't think that.
Speaker 10 (32:46):
She used the children just for the benefits.
Speaker 11 (32:48):
I think it was just more of tools to keep
the men in her life to help benefit her with
the money and the pain for this and paying for that.
Speaker 10 (32:55):
And that's what I think.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
To Daryl Parker joining me former Lieutenant Fanning County Sheriff's
Office at Blackfish Intel dot com, Daryl, how do we
go about finding the two missing children? You've got the
little girl missing, We've got an eighth progress photo of her.
You've got her missing. You've got a nine year old
(33:19):
boy missing. I believe the little newborn girl that was
sold has been recovered. But how do you go about
finding the two missing children?
Speaker 12 (33:27):
Well, you know, Nancy, I see a lot of parallels
between this case.
Speaker 13 (33:31):
And the Kasey Anthony case. And if you recall, the
thing that really bogged down that investigation was Kathy Anthony's
multiple stories where she gave the police all these different
versions of what happened to her child. And so in
this case, I.
Speaker 12 (33:47):
Think the mom has given them some inconsistent stories. All
they're going to have to track these down. And this
is over a period of time too. Seven years is
a lot longer period of time than when Kasey Anthony's
child was missing, so it's going to be a lot
more difficult for law enforcement to piece that together.
Speaker 13 (34:05):
But she couldn't have done all this without other adults
being aware of what.
Speaker 12 (34:09):
Was going on, at least collaterally, So I think there
are going to be some other collateral witnesses that can
help provide some information to try and find the kids,
Rob and Blake.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I don't understand how the mother can be getting government
benefits but they're not in school because the government does
know they exist and they're off school age. How does
that work.
Speaker 9 (34:32):
This is not supposed to happen when you hear a
story like those. Multiple systems have failed. This mother was
purposely not taking her children to school, I'm sure, because
the teachers would have seen something. She's not taking them
to their doctor's appointments because the doctors would have seen something.
Here in Texas, every single adult is a mandatory repporter
(34:54):
of child abuse, not just those professionals I mentioned, neighbors,
family members, if anyone saw something, it's the love that
they had to report it.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Christina, Wya, what more do you know?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Well, there the woman who is online identifying as a
very close family member.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
She revealed that the newborn baby was sold.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
She also was revealing some of the details about what
Virginia was telling each one of the family members. It
kind of lines up with what Virginia Gonzalez's friend was
telling us about the story. She was saying she pitted
the two families against each other. She allegedly told one
family that the kids were in the care of the
other family. Her side of the family told her mom
the same thing, vice versa. This woman also claims that
(35:35):
the father of three of Virginia Gonzalez's children actually took
care of six of the children for two years until
he went to jail, allegedly back in December, and that's
when she's saying that Virginia Gonzalez went and picked up
all the kids. She had kept the fourteen with her
fourteen year old with her originally and then went back
and picked up all the kids. So that was in December,
(35:56):
which means that if she picked up the little seven
year old girl who they are calling re Rea in December.
Then that means that little girl was suffering, most likely
six months of abuse before that nine to one one
call came in and they discovered her in the closet.
So apparently this woman is describing Virginia Gonzalez as very manipulative.
And it's crazy because they also say that she didn't
(36:18):
allow any of the children to go to school, and
there are no records of any of the children being
in school. And as for abram Marie Gonzalez, there's no
medical records, there's no legal records. So this is a
really convoluted case. And if it's true what they're saying
about the baby being sold to a couple, that the
possibility of abram Marie Gonzalez being sold to a couple
(36:39):
is there as well. But it might have been sold
the baby might have been sold to a more nefarious outfit,
which means we could be looking at something concerning child trafficking,
which we hope that's not the case. But either way,
there's a lot of avenues that investigators need to go down,
and there are a lot of leads that they need
to investigate.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Leam Marie, now that you realize the extent of what
Virginia Gonzales was doing to her children?
Speaker 11 (37:04):
Are you surprised, very I'm very shocked. I'm very disbelief.
I just I can't believe it. I mean, she put
up this image. I would have never, in my rights
say to mind thought that she was starving a kid
or abusing the children like that.
Speaker 10 (37:23):
I would have said something.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
To doctor Angela Arnold. How can you present one facade
to the public and live such a dark private life?
Speaker 10 (37:33):
You know what.
Speaker 7 (37:34):
Comes that comes from years and years of abuse, Because
people who have been abused learn how to compartmentalize different
things in their life. So this woman, because of the
purported abuse that she experienced as a child, has learned
how to contain the different parts of her life and
(37:59):
separate them. It all stems from her abuse.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
If you know or think you know anything regarding these
missing children, please dial five one two five seven two
eight four seven seven repeat five one two, five seven,
two eight four seven seven. We remember an American hero,
Chief of Police Stephen Desaio, Kirkersville, PD, Ohio, shot and
(38:26):
killed in a line of duty. Survived by wife now widow, Aaron, children,
Olivia Brayden, Grace, Chloe Cameron, and Liliana American Hero Police
Chief Stephen Desareo. Nancy Grace signing off goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A little girl just seven
years old found locked in a closet, starved at best,
getting one corn dog a day, and tonight the search
is on for her little sister, Lassigne two thousand and seventeen.
(00:26):
I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for
being with us. With me an all start pound to
make sense of what we know right now. Listen to this.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
On April third, twenty twenty five, Austin Police Department responded
to a nine to one to one call for a
seven year old child that was found locked in a
closet and starving. The seven year old was immediately taken
to a local hospital for medical treatment and it's currently recovering.
There were six other children found in the home that
appeared physically healthy.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Police officers at an Austin apartment find a severely malneurish
year old girl who is barricaded in a bedroom closet.
The child has found soiled, weighing just twenty nine pounds
and has been confined to a three foot by two
foot clauset space for approximately a month. Investigators find the
child has been given one corn dog and a half
a cup of water a day, doctors at Deell Children's
(01:16):
Medical Center determined the little girl is suffering moderate to
severe cerebral atrophy from prolonged malnutrition, damage from which she
will never recover.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
What did that, even, Maian? How can a child survive
day after day, week after week, month after month locked
in a dark closet, living off nothing? Again with me
an all star panel, But first straight out to Christina
Ohio joining US investigative reporter Christina this child locked in
(01:49):
a closet. What happened?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, according to the affidavit, when police got there, When
the caller called in for the welfare check and police
got there, they found a seven year old little girl
locked in a closet. It was barricaded by seventy five
pounds of boxes. They opened that door, they found that
child in there. She was soiled, surrounded by feces. She
was severely malnourished. She had dark spots all over her body,
(02:13):
which is a sign of severe malnourishment. They took her,
of course, to the hospital where she weighed twenty nine pounds,
and medical personnel say that because of the prolonged starvation
of that little girl that she will have permanent brain damage.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Permanent brain damage caused by starvation. Joining me, Virginia Bagbee,
Director of Child Help, National child abuse hotline Child Help Virginia,
thank you for being with us. Many people don't know
that starving a child can result in permanent brain damage.
(02:51):
Have you ever seen anything like it before, Virginia.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
We have definitely heard about cases like this, and they
happen all too often.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Doctor Kendall Crowned, Chief Medical Examiner, Terran County. That's fort worth,
never a lack of business. He is the esteemed lecturer
at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU and has
just launched a hit podcast, Mayhem in the More. Doctor
Kendle Crowns, thank you for being with us. I know
that you heard this, but let me repeat it again.
(03:18):
A seven year old little girl barricaded in a locked
bedroom closet lot from the outside soiled. A seven year
old weighing just twenty nine pounds, confined to a three
by two foot closet, she is being given at most
one corn dog and a half cup of water a day.
(03:42):
She is now suffering permanent, moderate to severe cerebral atrophy
from prolonged malnutrition. The dock states she will never recover.
Could you interpret that please?
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Certainly? Not being given much food or water. I mean
a corn dog and a cup of water is not
much for a child or anybody for that matter. Her
body is losing its depleting its muscle, depleting its stores,
so her muscles are wasting away, her bones are starting
to not form properly, and she's being starved. And part
(04:21):
of being starve results in your cardiac muscle or your
heart muscle mass starting to also fade away or go away,
which reduces your heart's ability to pump your blood, which
results in your kidney's failing and you go into kidney failure.
You also start having gut issues as well, and this
(04:42):
can all affect your brain and your brain's development, especially
in a child. So all those factors combined will result
in her having these issues that the doctors are describing.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Nonder general crowns, a child of seven years old should
weigh around seventy pounds forty five to seventy pounds, Is
that right?
Speaker 6 (05:02):
Yes, that would be about the average pit of a
child at seven.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
A seven year old average. Of course, they grow in
different ways. The average is fifty one pounds for a
seven year old child, but it ranges from forty three
to seventy So where would you place twenty nine pounds
in that spectrum? Twenty nine pounds if a seven year
(05:32):
old can weigh up to seventy three, she's not even
half the weight of a seven year old.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
Yeah, the weight you're describing as a severely malnourished child,
So she's been starved for a prolonged period of time.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
How does that make a child brain damaged?
Speaker 6 (05:49):
It's from the body shutting down, the lack of food,
the lack of loss of muscle mass, the heart muscle
mass being lost and not circulating properly, the organs aren't
getting enough oxy genated blood, and of course the brain's
part of this, so the brain's not getting proper oxygenation. Also,
the brain relies on glucose or sugars to grow and develop,
(06:11):
and it's not getting that as well, So the brain
is basically maldeveloped, not getting enough oxygen, so you get
brain damage.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Doctor Crowns, isn't it true that a child weighing twenty
nine pounds typically, and I'm basing this on charts of
statistics that I prepared, is typically a twenty two month
old child at twenty nine pounds.
Speaker 6 (06:37):
Yes, I would be correct.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
A seven year old little girl, doctor Tyndall Crowns, that
should weigh seventy one pounds fifty one to seventy one
pounds weighs twenty nine pounds. With a child starving, what
would she be enduring on the floor of that locked closet,
Doctor Crowns.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
She would be the enduring infusion, dehydration or a very
dry mouth or throat. It be dry, She'd have trouble swallowing,
She'd be very tired and just not able to even move.
And then you would add on to that the fact
that without the food she'd start hallucinating and then eventually
just slip into a coma and finally die.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Doctor Jendal Crowns. Would the child lose her hair? I
know that she's losing all muscle tone. Would she be
losing her hair? Would her faculties or hearing her sight?
Would that be intact? And what would her brain function
be lying on the floor of a dark closet starving.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
So yes, hair often will fall out in individuals who
are starved. Her brain function would be very minimal. She'd
be confused, even possibly hallucinating. And just completely fatigued and
not even feeling like moving.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Is it true? Doctor General Crowns that when someone has
been starved of prolonged period of time, is in this case,
when you give them food they can't even eat it.
Speaker 6 (08:05):
Yes, you can have what is called if you give
a person who's been starved, you feed them too quickly,
you can have what is called refeeding syndrome, where they
actually will from the food intake. It will cause so
much of a shock to their body that they can die.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Guys, When police show up to a home, they find
six children and then a seventh locked in a closet
weighing just twenty nine pounds, but ironically amazingly listen to
the condition of the other six children.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Six other children in the apartment, ranging in age from
two to fourteen years old, are found to be an
apparently good physical condition. The apartment's pantry, refrigerator in freezer
are stocked with various food items. The oldest children were
given strict orders to put the little girl in the
closet because she had bladder can issues and she was
trying to eat things she wasn't supposed to. During the investigation,
(09:04):
police learn there's an eighth child, Ava Marie, who is
not in the home with the other children.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
We've got one starved child who has permanent brain damage.
A seven year old little girl weighing twenty nine pounds
locked in the closet. Now I've got a missing child too.
But to doctor angel Arnold joining me, renowned psychiatrist out
of the Atlanta jurisdiction at ANGELA Arnold MD dot com,
(09:30):
Doctor Angie, thank you for being with us. Did you
hear what was just reported that there were six other
children in the home seemingly healthy, and they were encouraged
to keep the little girl locked in a closet, starving
her because the little girl would eat things she wasn't
(09:51):
supposed to eat. You know what, doctor Angie, I've heard
every excuse in the book about why parents starve the children. Oh,
the child ate a candy bar, I'll starve it. The
child eats too much, I'll starve it. The child has behaved,
I'll starve it. I mean, there are a million excuses
I have heard as to why moms and dads starve
(10:15):
the baby dead. But yet we see six other children
seemingly healthy, And.
Speaker 7 (10:21):
This is oftentimes what we do see in cases like this, Nancy,
So I the other children need to be taken care
of as well as this goes on, because they have
been suffering something called Stockholm syndrome. They want to They
are so scared of the abuse that they see being
(10:42):
heaped on this other child that they that they go
into it with their mother literally to protect themselves. Okay,
because Nancy, imagine how scared these other children are. They
never know who's going to be next to be locked
in that closet. So they're going to listen to the mama.
They're going to do what she says. And I think
(11:04):
that they could probably also psychologically sort of break off
from from feeling towards the child that is being locked
in the closet so that they can protect themselves. Because
this is chaos that this family is living in. It
is complete and utter chaos, and all of those other
(11:27):
children are suffering. They may not be brain dead, brain damaged.
Excuse me, they are not being you know, they're not
being starved, but they are also being damaged by this
so called mother of theirs.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
A missing child case takes a dark turn after a
disturbing discovery inside a family home.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
It brings to mind the case of another seven year
old child, Adrian Jones, there wise just handed down a
multimillion dollar verdict against the state of Kentucky. Adrian Jones
was systematically starved, forced by his mother and father to
(12:16):
watch the rest of the family eight. They would put
bars of soap in his mouth while everyone else ate
forced him to stand outside, chin deep in a pool
until finally the boy died. They killed the boy. Listen.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Former bailbondsman Michael Jones is awarding custody of his son,
Adrian Jones, and takes the boy away from his mother.
For the next four years, Adrian is regularly starved, rudely beaten,
tortured taste, and locked in a shower naked for months.
Adrian's brothers and sisters do not suffer the same fate.
Adrian is singled out by his father and stepmother. When
the child dies, Michael Jones buys two pigs and doesn't
(13:00):
feed them while the Adrian's body is left in the
shower for two weeks. When the pigs are starving, Michael
Jones feeds his son to the pigs. Michael and Heather
Jones pleaded guilty to first yeary murder and are serving
twenty five years to life.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So in one closet, we've got the child starved and
a missing child. And back to you, doctor Anngie Arnold,
you said the other siblings are gonna have to be
in treatment. You're right, because they didn't just watch their
sister starve slowly to death. They were forced to keep
her in the closet themselves. They're going to go the
(13:32):
rest of their lives thinking they starved their sister and
now she's got permanent brain damage. Antie, that's exactly correct, Nancy.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
These children have been abused in a different way, and
it's all for a matter of control. It's to keep
all of those children in control, Nancy, because you know,
you can only imagine there's one mother all of these children.
If somebody got old enough to decide, you know, we
really shouldn't be treating this person them this way, they
(14:01):
can possibly escape or something like this, right, But that
mother is making sure that they are so terrified. They
are so terrified in the home that they live in,
and she and she feeds them so that they have
this odd relationship where with the mother where they still
need her, but they're scared of her, so that none
(14:24):
of them will go against her to.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Brown Blake joining US agent, professor of University Texas School
of Law, Chief Legal officer Texas Advocacy Project, Brown, thank
you for being with us. I've seen it many many times,
like in Adrian Jones, like in this case, for one
child out of the whole group is singled out and
(14:48):
they're the ones that starved. That child is the one
that's abused. I don't understand the phenomena, but I accept
it because I've seen it over and over, even cases
that prosecuted other children would go unscathed while the one
child would end up dead.
Speaker 9 (15:08):
The idea that abuse is all about power and control
really helps explain this dynamic. This person is not out
of control. They're being very calculated and systematic in who
they abuse and how so all of those children experienced abuse,
just in different ways.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Guys. Not only do we have a child starved your death,
languishing on the floor of a locked closet, we have
a missing child. Listen.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
During the investigation, police discovered that there was an eighth
child who was not found inside the home. The missing
nine year old child was identified as Ava Marie Gonzalez.
Missing Persons detectives determined that Ava was last seen in
December twenty seventeen, when she was two years old and
in the custody of her mother, Virginia Marie Gonzalez.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Learning there should be eight children in the apartment, not
just the seven they found, police opened an investigation and
quickly determined Ava Marie has not been seen by family
or friends since she was two years old in twenty
seventeen in custody of her mother, Virginia Gonzalez. Considering the
condition of Ava's seven year old sister when she was found,
Austin police detectives are very concerned about Ava's welfare.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So they've got six children seemingly healthy, you've got one
child starved locked in a closet, and now you've got
a missing child. Joining me is a special guest. This
is Leanne Marie, friend of the children's mother, Virginia Gonzalez. Leanne,
thank you for being with us, Yes, ma'am, Leanne Marie.
(16:43):
Tell me about Virginia Gonzalez.
Speaker 10 (16:46):
So from what I know, she was just a normal person.
Speaker 11 (16:52):
I mean, honestly, she never really had her kids with her,
like you know, presence the only one that I seen
with her in the past year was the oldest one,
the fourteen year old.
Speaker 10 (17:04):
Besides that, we never knew that she had, you know,
the little girl. We only knew of boys.
Speaker 11 (17:13):
So she was just a typical person, partying out in
the clubs and the bars. I mean, she she was
just she never lived like she even had nine eight
nine kids.
Speaker 10 (17:27):
Very very you're scaring me.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Now there's mommy, Hi mom, Yeah, but there she is.
Party down mom. Where are your children right now? William
Marine just said something that scared me? Okay, hold on,
So I know that there are six children in the home,
healthy ish, one starved in a closet, and one missing.
That's eight. But you mentioned nine. The possibility of a
(17:53):
ninth child, yes, ma'am, very ninth child.
Speaker 11 (17:56):
Yes, So it's right now they're saying that this night child,
he is not he does not have a social social
security here in Texas, so he's not registered here in Texas.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Okay, Darryl Parker, I need you and I need you
now there's another missing child. Did you hear that? Darryl Parker,
former Lieutenant Fannin County Sheriff's Office, former marine, former Texas
police officer, helped me. So we're learning right now that
there's a ninth child that's in the wind. Nobody knows
(18:28):
how old the child is, where it is, it doesn't
have a Texas Social Security number.
Speaker 12 (18:32):
Yeah, Nancy, that's pretty concerning. I know that the mom
has already made several statements to police that are inconsistent
about the child that is missing already that they already
know about. And it'll be interesting to see if some
follow up questioning can reveal anything about this ninth child.
Possible ninth child.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Virginia Bagby joining us from Child Help National Abuse Hotline
going into this right now. I knew that there were
eight children, six in the home, one starve near death
with brain damage, and one missing since twenty seventeen. Now
I'm hearing about child number nine. Is that child dead?
(19:13):
I mean, what do you do when you get a
call like this the Child Help hotline?
Speaker 5 (19:18):
Well, this is a really difficult one.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I would encourage.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Somebody to reach out to the local hospitals potentially where
all the other children have been born, to see if
they have any record. This is very concerning to have
two children missing. Now these other children have probably are
aware that they have siblings that are missing. Add that
to the terror. They've been experiencing.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 8 (19:50):
A shocking discovery inside a home leads police to investigate
a long buried secret.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Okay, Liam Marie is joining U. A friend of the mom,
Virginia Gonzales MS murray, thank you because what you've just
said could save a child's life. Yes, However, do you
know Leanne is the ninth child older younger girl.
Speaker 11 (20:14):
Boy, it's a boy and he is around age nine
to ten years old. So she has a fourteen, an eleven,
A ten, A nine, A seven.
Speaker 10 (20:28):
I know she has two three year olds the newborn.
So there's there's there's nine. From what I'm hearing right now.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay, hold on, let me have this up. There's a
fourteen year old, an eleven year old, a ten year old,
A nine year old is the boy that you think
is missing? A seven year old is a little girl
starved in the closet? Two three year old? Ok one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven eight, I'm missing somebody fourteen, eleven, ten nine missed
(20:59):
a three and three and a kneeborn. What now?
Speaker 11 (21:03):
So Eva's around eight nine years old and then the
little boys right after her eleven months difference.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
You stated that Virginia Gonzales, the mother the starving little
girl and the other missing girl, was quote normal would
go partying at the clubs and the bars. Hey, I
don't have a problem with that party down mommy, But
(21:30):
what would she ever mention who was taking care of
the children while she's at the bar.
Speaker 11 (21:35):
So, from what we understand was that the kids, all
the kids were left with the grandmother of She has
three kids that belonged to one father and they were
that was who she was with the past seven years,
and so they were supposedly all living with the grandmother.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
You're seeing mommy now out partying on a boat, drinking
straight out of a vodka mini bottle.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
Oop.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
There's she is in a bar. Why bother with a glass? Seriously,
why who needs a glass when you can drink straight
from the bottle. There's mommy chowing down on some free
toes and chips on a boat while her twenty nine
pound seven year old daughter is locked in a closet
(22:20):
at home. Okay, DOCTRINNGI Arnold, I need to shrink because
why is she had on a boat partying while her
child is starving in a closet and two children are missing, right.
Speaker 7 (22:33):
And Nancy can she how can she just be so
unattached from all of these children that she's having. So
my question is why is she having all of these children?
And I'm sorry, is it to support her lifestyle? And
where are the fathers of these children? We always have
to ask where is We're always you know, why isn't
(22:53):
the mother taking care of them? Okay, yeah, she is
a horrible person that has done horrible things to at
least two of her children that know about. Where are
the fathers of these children? And why are any of
them involved? But Nancy, I don't believe she should be
out partying on our boat. I think that when you
have children, you should be at home taking care of
your children and not relying on someone else to take
(23:13):
care of them, because again we don't know how children
take that, but oftentimes when mothers are not around, children
do since a fear of abandonment when their mother is
not taking care of them.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
But to Ron, when Blake joining us as junct professor
University takes as school of law, Rowen, I'm not the
church lady. If mom wants to party, go ahead. If
mom wants to vape and smoke, have at it. The
issue is intent. When she is out partying in her
club and bar finery, her child is at home starving
(23:52):
and two of them are missing. Now that goes to intent.
When I'm trying to prove any child neglect to a jury,
that's when that type of video, let's see the video
again comes in to play. I couldn't care less what
mommy whares or what Barshi goes to. Don't care, But
(24:13):
if your child is at home starving in a closet,
suddenly your behavior, your actions during that time are relevant.
Speaker 9 (24:23):
Absolutely. I can tell you're thinking like a prosecutor. The
contrast between the images you're showing of these this child
and then her mother partying, it tells the whole story there.
And unfortunately many of users present one face to some people,
can be very charming to some people. And then we
hear about these horrible things happening at home too.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Doctor Kimmel Crown's is joining me, Chief Medical Examiner, Terrant County,
that's fort Worth. Doctor Kimmel Crowns. I've got one child
starved almost beyond recognition, her bones sticking out, you know,
like they're visible through the skin. I've got that child
(25:04):
starved almost dead, permanent brain injury. I've got a missing
little girl, and now I'm learning from leam Marie there's
another boy missing that is about one, two three fourth
in the progression line of children. Leam Marie joining us
a friend of mom Virginia Gonzales. Did you know that
(25:27):
Ava was missing?
Speaker 10 (25:28):
No, we had no idea.
Speaker 11 (25:31):
Back in twenty eighteen, when I originally first met Virginia,
we only knew of three little boys. So after talking
to mutual friends and all concluding that she had Ava's
hair shaved like a boy, she never had Ava in
her possess. I mean, she never let us know that
(25:53):
it was a girl. She had her presented as a
boy to all of us, so we were all in shock.
We didn't nobody knew that she had Ava.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Leanne, I don't understand this. So she showed you Ava,
But this is the missing child, not the starving child. Right,
you saw Ava, and she had her dressed like a
boy with her head shaved.
Speaker 11 (26:19):
She had her hair, She had him. She had a faid,
He had a faid. I definitely confirmed this with her
landlord and roommates that she lived.
Speaker 10 (26:30):
With back in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 11 (26:33):
Everybody concluded that and confirmed that it was a little boy.
Speaker 10 (26:37):
It was not nobody knew she had a little.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Girl, leanne knowing the mother. Why do you think she
shaved the little girl's head and passed her off as
a boy.
Speaker 11 (26:47):
I feel like that she had a anger issue with
the little girls because of the way her mother treated
her back when she was little, and I think that
she was taken it out on these little girls because
from all the evidence and information that I've collected, it's
all based on the girls.
Speaker 10 (27:08):
So you know, she sold the baby who was a
little girl that was just born in March. She starved
a re.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Reading whoa, whoa, whoa. My head is spinning. What did
you just say she sold a baby?
Speaker 10 (27:19):
Yes, and CPS just found that baby.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
When okay, glads, that's the newborn baby that was just
born in March, So that baby's been sold. Yes, but
see how much does she get from the baby?
Speaker 10 (27:30):
From what I heard twenty five k.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Christina Whyo tell me about the newborn baby girl that
just got sold?
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Well, apparently from my investigations online and none of this
has been confirmed yet, but she did have this newborn
baby and according to all person who says that they
are a close relative of the family. She did have
a newborn baby.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
It was sold to a couple.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
So if that is in fact the case, there could
be a possibility that Aban Marigan Solace was also sold,
and that something that will have to be looked into,
because it would be my opic of us to think
that that possibility isn't out there.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
You know what, Christina Ariyah, I can only hope and
pray that she was sold and that she's alive and
being treated better than the little seven year old to
Leanne Marie, a friend of mom Virginia Gonzalez. Why did
she sell her baby?
Speaker 11 (28:25):
I'm guessing financial issues, But at the same time, you know,
all the money was going downtown Sixth Street and at
the strip clubs. I mean, she was just making it
rain with money and buying bottles after bottles and buying
everybody buying the bar out. I mean, that's where I
seen the money going. I didn't see anything.
Speaker 10 (28:45):
Else that she had that.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
I mean, she didn't even have a vehicle, you know
what I mean. So, I mean I think all the
money was just going to party in I don't think
it was ever to just take care of her and
the rest of the kids.
Speaker 10 (28:56):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I noticed in the party video she's got a Gucci
bags strapped around her front. Was that a fake? Was
that a fruity? A fake Gucci?
Speaker 11 (29:06):
From my understanding, everything that the police found in her
room was everything was name brand. I don't think it
was fake, but I do now know that a video
was taped back in May a year ago. She would
just cover up her stomach. I mean she would, honestly
(29:27):
now that I'm thinking, I'm thinking she was trying to.
Speaker 10 (29:29):
Hide the pregnancy. Why because she was out there partying.
Speaker 11 (29:32):
I mean on the boat party, which was in September
of twenty twenty four, my birthday. You can see in
the video she was kind of closed. She didn't take
the whole shot. And I got other, you know, videos
of footage of her putting the shots on the side
when people weren't watching. So I think she knew she
was pregnant, but she just didn't want the other the
(29:53):
world to know that she was pregnant. So she would
literally buy bottles, get everybody drunk, and guess what, then
nobody notices anything.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Lean question, did she discuss openly that she was selling
the baby?
Speaker 10 (30:06):
No, no, ma'am.
Speaker 11 (30:07):
I found that out through the one of the children's families,
the ones that I've been speaking with since the very
beginning of the case, when it first started getting investigated.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Do you know who she sold the baby too?
Speaker 10 (30:22):
I do not know them personally. I just know that
it was a couple.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Well, I am why did she keep having children if
she hated them so much?
Speaker 11 (30:29):
I don't think that she was having the children to,
you know, just be this mother and to take care
of them. I think she was living off the benefits
the snap and the EBT and the fathers. I think
that was how she would hold some of these men,
you know, in her life, because a lot of them
didn't deal with the children. They only dealt with her,
(30:51):
And a lot of them didn't want the children, they
just wanted her. So I think that it was like
the kids were like a tool for the men. You
know how they say there's womenizers. I think she was
like that with the men, like where she idolized men
before her children.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Did anyone ever wonder who would be taking care of
the children while she's out partying.
Speaker 11 (31:13):
So from my friendship experience with her, she would come
and go, so one minute she was out here popping
bottles for about two or three months, and then she'll
go ghost for six months a year, and then she'll.
Speaker 10 (31:27):
Pop out out of nowhere again. So it wasn't really
she was really just screep with the children.
Speaker 11 (31:33):
Like I said, I only went to her that apartment
where they found the child that was starving and the
other six children. I only went to that apartment one time,
which was to go pick her up, and she it
was clean. It was the fourteen year old was the
only one there. I didn't ask because every time I
asked about the children, it was that they were with her,
(31:55):
the grandmother, because her baby daddy was, you know, crazy
after her, so she just left the children at him
so he would be calm, is what she would tell us.
Speaker 8 (32:08):
Crime stories with Nancy Grace, a shocking discovery inside a
home leads police to investigate a long buried secret.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
So you think that she's having the children in order
to get state benefits.
Speaker 10 (32:26):
I don't think it's just state benefits.
Speaker 11 (32:28):
I think, like I said, it's more of a tool
for the men that she was in love with. I mean,
I mean some of them, some of the from what
I'm understanding too, is some of the kids. I mean
she don't even know who the fathers is to some
of the kids. I mean, she was known for being
in the club, you know, with multiple men, So I
mean I don't think that.
Speaker 10 (32:46):
She used the children just for the benefits.
Speaker 11 (32:48):
I think it was just more of tools to keep
the men in her life to help benefit her with
the money and the pain for this and paying for that.
Speaker 10 (32:55):
And that's what I think.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
To Daryl Parker joining me former Lieutenant Fanning County Sheriff's
Office at Blackfish Intel dot com, Daryl, how do we
go about finding the two missing children? You've got the
little girl missing, We've got an eighth progress photo of her.
You've got her missing. You've got a nine year old
(33:19):
boy missing. I believe the little newborn girl that was
sold has been recovered. But how do you go about
finding the two missing children?
Speaker 12 (33:27):
Well, you know, Nancy, I see a lot of parallels
between this case.
Speaker 13 (33:31):
And the Kasey Anthony case. And if you recall, the
thing that really bogged down that investigation was Kathy Anthony's
multiple stories where she gave the police all these different
versions of what happened to her child. And so in
this case, I.
Speaker 12 (33:47):
Think the mom has given them some inconsistent stories. All
they're going to have to track these down. And this
is over a period of time too. Seven years is
a lot longer period of time than when Kasey Anthony's
child was missing, so it's going to be a lot
more difficult for law enforcement to piece that together.
Speaker 13 (34:05):
But she couldn't have done all this without other adults
being aware of what.
Speaker 12 (34:09):
Was going on, at least collaterally, So I think there
are going to be some other collateral witnesses that can
help provide some information to try and find the kids,
Rob and Blake.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I don't understand how the mother can be getting government
benefits but they're not in school because the government does
know they exist and they're off school age. How does
that work.
Speaker 9 (34:32):
This is not supposed to happen when you hear a
story like those. Multiple systems have failed. This mother was
purposely not taking her children to school, I'm sure, because
the teachers would have seen something. She's not taking them
to their doctor's appointments because the doctors would have seen something.
Here in Texas, every single adult is a mandatory repporter
(34:54):
of child abuse, not just those professionals I mentioned, neighbors,
family members, if anyone saw something, it's the love that
they had to report it.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Christina, Wya, what more do you know?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Well, there the woman who is online identifying as a
very close family member.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
She revealed that the newborn baby was sold.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
She also was revealing some of the details about what
Virginia was telling each one of the family members. It
kind of lines up with what Virginia Gonzalez's friend was
telling us about the story. She was saying she pitted
the two families against each other. She allegedly told one
family that the kids were in the care of the
other family. Her side of the family told her mom
the same thing, vice versa. This woman also claims that
(35:35):
the father of three of Virginia Gonzalez's children actually took
care of six of the children for two years until
he went to jail, allegedly back in December, and that's
when she's saying that Virginia Gonzalez went and picked up
all the kids. She had kept the fourteen with her
fourteen year old with her originally and then went back
and picked up all the kids. So that was in December,
(35:56):
which means that if she picked up the little seven
year old girl who they are calling re Rea in December.
Then that means that little girl was suffering, most likely
six months of abuse before that nine to one one
call came in and they discovered her in the closet.
So apparently this woman is describing Virginia Gonzalez as very manipulative.
And it's crazy because they also say that she didn't
(36:18):
allow any of the children to go to school, and
there are no records of any of the children being
in school. And as for abram Marie Gonzalez, there's no
medical records, there's no legal records. So this is a
really convoluted case. And if it's true what they're saying
about the baby being sold to a couple, that the
possibility of abram Marie Gonzalez being sold to a couple
(36:39):
is there as well. But it might have been sold
the baby might have been sold to a more nefarious outfit,
which means we could be looking at something concerning child trafficking,
which we hope that's not the case. But either way,
there's a lot of avenues that investigators need to go down,
and there are a lot of leads that they need
to investigate.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Leam Marie, now that you realize the extent of what
Virginia Gonzales was doing to her children?
Speaker 11 (37:04):
Are you surprised, very I'm very shocked. I'm very disbelief.
I just I can't believe it. I mean, she put
up this image. I would have never, in my rights
say to mind thought that she was starving a kid
or abusing the children like that.
Speaker 10 (37:23):
I would have said something.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
To doctor Angela Arnold. How can you present one facade
to the public and live such a dark private life?
Speaker 10 (37:33):
You know what.
Speaker 7 (37:34):
Comes that comes from years and years of abuse, Because
people who have been abused learn how to compartmentalize different
things in their life. So this woman, because of the
purported abuse that she experienced as a child, has learned
how to contain the different parts of her life and
(37:59):
separate them. It all stems from her abuse.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
If you know or think you know anything regarding these
missing children, please dial five one two five seven two
eight four seven seven repeat five one two, five seven,
two eight four seven seven. We remember an American hero,
Chief of Police Stephen Desaio, Kirkersville, PD, Ohio, shot and
(38:26):
killed in a line of duty. Survived by wife now widow, Aaron, children,
Olivia Brayden, Grace, Chloe Cameron, and Liliana American Hero Police
Chief Stephen Desareo. Nancy Grace signing off goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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