Giovanni Gonzalez, 5 year old

[Kellapple]

I want this cute little guy to be out there and I haven't seen this posted anywhere and I did a search too.

Lawrence officers aid search for Lynn boy

8-24-2008
By Jim Patten
jpatten@eagletribune.com


LAWRENCE — Four members of the Police Department's special operations unit spent five hours in Lynn on Wednesday afternoon helping to search for a missing 5-year-old boy.

Capt. Roy Vasque, Detective Sgt. Mark Ciccarelli, and Detectives David Moynihan and Dean Murphy were working on a drug investigation with state troopers assigned to the Lawrence Drug Task Force when they were notified they were being reassigned to search for missing Giovanni Gonzalez.

Moynihan said the Lawrence officers told their state trooper counterparts that if they needed more manpower for the search, "to let us know."

"I was asked to go and I said sure," Moynihan said.

He said he was assigned to a team that searched the High Rock Park area, about a mile from the boy's father's home. His father, Ernesto Gonzalez Jr., 36, is being held in jail on a child endangerment charge.

Gonzalez took his son for a custody visit Friday and when the boy's mother went to Gonzalez's apartment to get little Giovanni, the boy was not there, and he has not been seen since.

Vasque, Ciccarelli and Murphy also were assigned to teams that searched vacant buildings, canvassed neighborhoods and spoke to neighbors and people on the street, Moynihan said.

"We knew they were reaching out for help so we decided to go,'' Moynihan said, adding that their trip to Lynn was cleared through local police supervisors.

Giovanni is described as 4 feet 2 inches tall, weighing about 40 pounds, and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a red shirt and Spider-Man sandals.

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_235093834.html

[Kellapple]

Five-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez has been missing was last seen Friday. (Lynn Police Dept}

http://i34.tinypic.com/2q07zmw.jpg

[Kellapple]

Boy Missing in Massachusetts, Dad Arrested

Aug. 19, 2008

RSS Lynn police are searching for a 5-year-old boy who went missing over the weekend while in the care of his father, who is now facing charges.

Prosecutors say 5-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez was dropped off at the Lynn home of his father, Ernesto Gonzalez, on Friday. When the boy's mother, Daisy Colon, went to pick him up on Sunday, the father said their son wasn't with him.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=5610257

[Kellapple]

DA: We'll keep looking for Giovanni

August 22, 2008
By Dan O'Brien / The Daily Item

LYNN - The prosecutor overseeing the search for a 5-year-old boy - now missing for six days - says police plan to maintain an exhaustive search, even if it means getting on their "hands and knees" to find Giovanni Gonzalez.

John Dawley of the Essex County District Attorney's Office said at a Thursday afternoon press conference that police have searched, and will continue to search, downtown Lynn and the Flax Pond area as long as they need to.

"The search over the pond and the immediate woods needs to be more exhaustive and perhaps intimate with the searchers. It can't be a general search. It has to literally, at this point, be perhaps even on hands and knees in some instances with the thick brush to make sure that that is exhausted," he said.

"We have searched businesses, we have searched lots, we have searched Dumpsters, we have searched the woods," Dawley added. "From here on after we have other search mechanisms put in place that would require special search techniques."

Investigators reportedly had a false alarm near the pond Thursday afternoon when children found what appeared to be human remains, which turned out to be a dead animal.

Dawley said investigators continued to search the area around the Brightwood Terrace apartment of Giovanni's father, Ernesto Gonzalez, as well as Flax Pond and nearby woods because, "common sense-wise, if you were hiding something ... that's a natural place for us to focus on." Dawley confirmed that FBI agents have been sent to Puerto Rico as part of the investigation after Gonzalez made earlier statements to Giovanni's mother, Daisy Colon, that he had the desire to take their son to the island.

However, Dawley said the boy has not been seen on airport surveillance videos in Boston or Puerto Rico, yet.

"That is not yet exhausted," he said.

While authorities haven't given up hope of finding Giovanni in Puerto Rico, Dawley told the Item before the press conference that the boy is likely still in this area.
"There's little chance he's not in Lynn," he said.

Moving forward, Dawley said investigators will review every piece of evidence found and determine if those pieces of evidence need to be reviewed again. They will also ask themselves if there are any parts of the investigation they've missed, he said.

The ranking prosecutor also said the searches would primarily take place during the daylight hours, but said that if a tip leads them in another direction, "we're not going to just be on the clock."

"We have not ruled out anything," he said.

Dawley wouldn't comment when asked by a reporter if Ernesto Gonzalez appears concerned behind bars about his child's well being.

"We want to remain optimistic for this family," he said.

http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/articles/2008/08/22/news/news01.txt

[Kellapple]

Police find bloody mop at home of missing Lynn boy's father

August 22, 2008
By Thor Jourgensen and Henry J. Collins / The Daily Item

LYNN - Police found a bloody mop in Ernesto Gonzalez' apartment during a search they conducted this week in the wake of his son, Giovanni's, disappearance last Sunday.

The mop's discovery Monday prompted police to apply for a search warrant Wednesday in an effort to retrieve any sign of blood from Gonzalez' 2 Brightwood Terrace apartment.

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said Friday night any time blood is found it is a concern but all involved in the search are still hoping Giovanni is alive.

"Finding blood like we did is always a concern but at this point we do not know whose blood it is," Blodgett said. "We will not know whose blood it is until the scientific results come back."


Continued: http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2008/08/23/news/news01.txt

[Kellapple]

Ernesto Gonzalez’ 2 Brightwood Terrace apartment in Lynn, where police discovered a bloody mop during a search earlier this week. Item photo / Reba M. Saldanha

http://i35.tinypic.com/2dmnfs.jpg

[Kellapple]

5-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez

http://i35.tinypic.com/2094n7n.jpg

[Kellapple]

Report links bloody mop, Lynn dad

By Marie Szaniszlo
Saturday, August 23, 2008 -

Investigators searching for a missing East Boston boy reportedly found a bloody mop in his father’s Lynn apartment.

Prosecutors and police last night refused to confirm or deny the Lynn Item report. But the newspaper said that in a search warrant application, State Trooper Brandon Arakelian wrote that both the mop and a bottle of pine cleaner found in Ernesto Gonzalez’s apartment tested positive for blood.

“I don’t want to know right now,” the boy’s mother, Daisy Colon, told the Herald. “It might have nothing to do with my son.”

Police also seized a belt, lighter fluid, trash bags, two knives, a computer and a cell phone from the apartment, the Item reported.

Colon dropped off 5-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez about 4 p.m. Friday at his father’s apartment at 2 Brightwood Terrace for a scheduled visit, police said. But when she went to pick up their son Sunday night, his father didn’t answer the door. Colon called police, who found Ernesto Gonzalez alone in his apartment. Gonzalez, 36, had an unexplained cut on his hand and told police he hadn’t seen the boy since the previous weekend.

However, Gonzalez went to an appointment at the Lynn Behavioral Health Clinic between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. last Saturday with Giovanni, America’s Most Wanted’s Web site reported. And one of Gonzalez’s neighbors told the Herald he saw the two playing ball together around 1 p.m. that day. Gonzalez is charged with reckless endangerment of a child and is being held on $500,000 bail.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view/2008_08_23_Report_links_bloody_mop__Lynn_dad/srvc=home&position=4

[Kellapple]

Investigators intensify search for Lynn boy

By Erin Ailworth
Globe Staff / August 24, 2008

Federal investigators and state and local police set up roadblocks yesterday in the Lynn neighborhood where a missing 5-year-old was last reported seen about a week ago.

The goal yesterday was "to see if people going about their routines, who have the same [weekend] routine, have seen anything," said Karen Dawley, a spokeswoman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Dawley said she had heard of no new developments.

Authorities believe Giovanni Gonzalez went missing after being dropped off at his father's Lynn apartment on Aug. 15. When the boy's mother, Daisy Colon, went to pick him up two days later, his father, Ernesto Gonzalez, said Giovanni had never been there.

Colon has repeatedly asked the public for help in finding her son.

Colon spent yesterday handing out fliers and talking to people about her missing son. She encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

"If they know anything, any little detail. Any little detail they know, don't be afraid to come out and say it," she said speaking from her neighborhood, where she had stopped to update friends.

Colon has stayed positive about her son's chances. "Keep praying, because I still have faith. I still have faith he is coming home," she said. "Thank you for praying, those that I don't know and those that I know. Thank you for being there for me."

The search for Giovanni took a dark turn Friday, when police found a mop that appeared to have been stained with blood and cleaned with bleach inside Ernesto Gonzalez's apartment, authorities said.

Investigators also seized several knives and the cap of a household cleanser that appeared to be blood-stained.

During a search of the apartment earlier in the week, police had seized a laptop computer.

Gonzalez, 36, denies that he ever saw his son, has not cooperated with investigators, and refuses to discuss a cut on his hand.

He is being held on $500,000 bail and has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment charges.

Yesterday, as authorities continued circulating fliers about the missing boy, neighbors at the Brightwood Terrace apartments where Gonzalez lived said they rarely saw the man or his son.

"I never saw the kid until the police showed me a picture," said Kim Whitford, who lives in an apartment on the floor below Gonzalez's.

"As far as the dad goes, he really didn't want to talk to anybody, so he pretty much just kept to himself," Whitford said.

Neighbor Nick Arroyo, who has lived in the building about a month, said he recalls seeing Gonzalez with his son only a few times.

"He usually played around with his son," Arroyo recalled. "Both times I saw him, his son had a little toy car he played around with."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/08/24/investigators_intensify_search_for_lynn_boy/

[Kellapple]

Giovanni Gonzalez had been allowed to visit with his father, Ernesto.

http://i33.tinypic.com/23sge84.jpg

[Kellapple]

Video: Father remains silent as search for son continues

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/Father-remains-silent-as-search-for-son-continues/1219368370.html

[Kellapple]

Ernesto Gonzales

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[Kellapple]

Americas Most Wanted Coverage

http://www.amw.com/missing_children/case.cfm?id=58380

[Kellapple]

Family, friends pray for child's return

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | August 25, 2008

LYNN - A week after 5-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez was reported missing in Lynn, authorities yesterday continued to investigate the case, while family and friends in East Boston, where the boy's mother lives, continued to pray for his return.

"I just hope they find that boy," said Richard Boyd, who lives near Daisy Colon, Gonzalez's mother, on Liverpool Street, a row of multicolored townhouses in the Maverick Landing mixed-income development near the East Boston waterfront.

Boyd, a member of the tenants association, said Colon and her family held a vigil at their home Friday night. He said the close-knit neighborhood is praying for Giovanni's safe return to Colon, whom he called a caring and conscientious mother.

"She's a good parent, I'll tell you that," Boyd said. "I'd swear on a stack of bibles to that."

Colon reported her son missing Aug. 17 after she went to pick him up from a scheduled weekend visit with his father, Ernesto L. Gonzalez Jr., but found no answer at Gonzalez's Lynn apartment. When police entered the residence, they found the father but not the boy.

Gonzalez was charged last Monday with one count of child endangerment. He pleaded not guilty and was held on $500,000 cash bail.

On Friday, Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett told the Globe that State Police working with his office had discovered what appeared to be blood-stained objects - including a mop that was apparently stained with blood and cleaned with bleach - in Gonzalez's apartment.

On Saturday, the Lynn Police Department, the State Police, and the FBI set up a roadblock near Gonzalez's Brightwood Terrace apartment and distributed flyers to passing motorists and pedestrians, in an attempt to pinpoint the boy's last known location. They hoped to reach residents as well as people who pass through the Lynn neighborhood as part of their Saturday routine, said Karen Dawley, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.

The roadblock was a visible part of a weeklong investigation that has involved a dozen law enforcement agencies and Lynn city departments. Investigators were "just trying anything to see if they could get a lead or something," Dawley said.

Neither Dawley nor a Lynn police lieutenant would say yesterday whether the effort generated new information.

At police headquarters, a few blocks from Gonzalez's apartment, a "Missing" poster showed Giovanni's smiling face; next to it, a "Desaparecidos" poster showed a picture of both the boy and his father, and urged community cooperation in the search. The posters asked anyone with information to call Lynn police at 781-595-2000 or State Police at 978-745-8908.

Colon did not return a call for comment yesterday. At her East Boston residence in the afternoon, a woman who identified herself as a family member said Colon was not home.

boston.com

[Kellapple]

Giovanni's mom prays for return

By Thor Jourgensen / The Daily Item
August 27, 2008

LYNN - Her sore back forced Daisy Colon to abandon a daily drive to Lynn to talk to police about her missing son, but she holds out hope she can see Giovanni start kindergarten on Sept. 8.

The 5-year-old is enrolled in the Samuel Adams School in East Boston but Giovanni has been missing since the weekend of Aug. 16. Colon says she dropped him off with his father, Ernesto Gonzalez, on Aug. 15.

Gonzalez told police he had not seen the boy since the previous weekend. He pleaded innocent to child endangerment charges and remains held on $500,000 cash bail.

In the 10 days since Giovanni's disappearance, Colon has drawn strength from her mother, Luz, who traveled from Puerto Rico to Boston to help her daughter, and other relatives.

"I miss him. I'm just waiting for him to come back," she said, adding she is helping police solicit help from anyone who might have driven downtown in the vicinity of Gonzalez' Brightwood Terrace apartment on the days Giovanni was with him.

"I keep praying," she said. Colon said police assure her they are following up on every piece of information passed on to them regarding Giovanni. Searchers combed downtown streets and buildings last weekend and have searched St. Mary's and Pine Grove cemeteries and Flax Pond.

They also took possession of Dumpsters and trash barrels located on Brightwood Terrace and nearby streets, including Rogers Avenue.

"They requested we move two Dumpsters to an investigative area and we did," said Casella Waste Services spokesperson Joe Fusco.

Colon traveled every day last week from East Boston to Lynn to meet with police. Back pain forces her to walk with a cane and she decided this week to suspend the trips after the pain worsened.
She and Gonzalez separated when Giovanni was 2. They were living on Pattys Way and Gonzalez moved to 3 Light St. Brightwood Terrace neighbor Kim Whitford said Gonzalez moved into 2 Brightwood six months ago.

Prosecutors Tuesday said they have yet to identify the source of blood found on a mop head and cleaning bottle cap. Those items were taken from Gonzalez' apartment Aug. 18 after police executed a search of the apartment.

Police sought and received another warrant on Aug. 20 to search the apartment, in the words of the warrant application, for "blood, blood stains, physiological fluids and matter visible and non-visible."


http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/articles/2008/08/27/news/news01.txt

[Kellapple]

Tests On Bloody Mop In Missing Boy Case Complete

POSTED: 11:16 am EDT August 28, 2008

BOSTON -- Lab results on blood found at the father of a missing Lynn 5-year-old boy have been completed, according to the Lynn Daily Item.

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said that officials cannot talk about the results because of the investigation into the disappearance of Giovanni Gonzalez. His father, Ernesto Gonzalez, has remained jailed on child endangerment charges since his arrest on Aug. 18.

Gonzalez was supposed to return the boy to his mother's custody after a weekend visit, according to police. Blodgett told the newspaper that officials are optimistic that "Giovanni is alive."

A bloody mop and bottle of pine cleaner with traces of blood were found in Gonzalez's apartment during a police search.

Gonzalez pleaded not guilty to child endangerment charge and is being held on $500,000 bail.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/17323415/detail.html

[Kellapple]

DA says he’s optimistic missing boy is alive

By Jessica Fargen
Thursday, August 28, 2008 -

Test results are back from blood found in the Lynn home of a missing boy’s father and the district attorney says he’s “optimistic” the child is still alive.

Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett will not disclose the blood test results because of the ongoing investigation, his spokesman Steve O’Connell said this morning. But, Blodgett is hopeful that the adorable 5-year-old boy is still alive.

“We still have optimistic hopes Giovanni Gonzalez is alive,” Blodgett said.

Giovanni’s mother, Daisy Colon, dropped him off Aug. 15 at the Lynn apartment of his father, Ernesto Gonzalez. Two days later when she went to pick up Giovanni, Gonzalez told her their son wasn’t there, she told police.

A search of Gonzalez’ Brightwood Terrace apartment turned up a mop and a bottle of pine cleaner that tested positive for blood. Gonzalez is charged with child endangerment and is being held on $500,000 cash bail.

The frenzied local search for Giovanni will get a national boost this weekend when the crimefighting showcase America’s Most Wanted runs photos of Giovanni during its Saturday night broadcast, according to Boston’s FOX25 channel. The America’s Most Wanted Web site already has a Web page dedicated to the Giovanni investigation, including photos of Giovanni and his father.

In addition, Giovanni’s smiling face is featured prominently on the main Web page for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Yesterday, Lynn police said they had scaled back on the physical search of the area where Giovanni was staying and are reviewing evidence gathered during the initial investigation.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view/2008_08_28_DA_says_he_s_optimistic_missing_boy_ali ve/srvc=home&position=recent

[Kellapple]

Investigators to continue Giovanni search

By Thor Jourgensen / The Daily Item
September 4, 2008

LYNN - She is encouraged by national television exposure on the disappearance of her son and Daisy Colon checks with police daily on their progress in finding him.

The search for Giovanni Gonzalez, 5, entered its third week Sunday, one day after America's Most Wanted featured the missing East Boston boy during the missing persons segment of its Saturday 9 p.m. show.

Steve O'Connell, spokesman for District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, said the search for the boy remains an "ongoing" investigation.

"Investigators meet today to determine a list of places that we will be searching. We're not going to give up," O'Connell said.

Colon on Monday said Most Wanted's focus on her son's disappearance and similar attention by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children gives her hope the exposure will spark a sighting of the boy or, at least, provide police with new information on his whereabouts.

"If people just keep putting his picture out there then he can be spotted," she said. The boy's father, Ernesto Gonzalez, is in the Essex House of Correction in Middleton charged with child endangerment. He is scheduled to return to District Court on Sept. 17.

He told police on Aug. 17 that he had not seen the boy since a visit on Aug. 10. A telephone message on Colon's phone from Gonzalez confirmed for police her claim that she dropped the boy off at Gonzalez' Brightwood Terrace apartment on the 15th.

In addition to the national attention focused on the disappearance, police have blanketed Lynn with color and black and white posters of father and son and conducted informational traffic stops aimed at spurring the memories of people who walked or drove downtown on Aug. 16 or 17.

Brightwood resident Steven Long said police have asked for residents' help over the last two weeks in providing information that could help them find Giovanni.
"I just hope the kid's found safe," he said.

http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/articles/2008/09/04/news/news08.txt

[Kellapple]

Clear Channel Donates Billboard In Lynn Boy Search

Sep 4, 2008 6:00 pm US/Eastern

LYNN (WBZ) ― Clear Channel is donating one of its billboards to aide in the search for a missing 5-year-old Lynn boy.

Giovanni Gonzalez' picture will be put up on a Clear Channel's billboards in Lynn's Wyoma Square next week.

Giovanni has been missing since Aug. 16 when his mother went to pick him up from a weekend visit with his father, Ernesto Gonzalez.

Gonzalez has refused to cooperate with police and will not say what happened to Giovanni. He is being held on $500,000 cash bail on charges of child endangerment.

On Thursday, police said they are planning a new search for the boy, but they won't say where or when they will search. Investigators are continuing to interview people, and in some cases, are re-interviewing, hoping to get more information in the case.

Investigators in Lynn are still hopeful that Giovanni is alive despite a bloody mop being found at his father's home after the boy's disappearance. Upon his arrest, Ernesto Gonzalez had a cut on his hand that he wouldn't explain.

The search for the young boy has spanned throughout Lynn, including parks, cemeteries and lakes, and down to Puerto Rico where Gonzalez is from. Giovanni's mother has pleaded to Gonzalez to talk to police.

Police urge anyone with information about Giovanni's whereabouts to contact Lynn police at 781-595-2000.

http://wbztv.com/local/bloody.mop.found.2.810435.html

[SaraSidle]

Clear Channel Donates Billboard In Lynn Boy Search

Sep 4, 2008 6:00 pm US/Eastern

LYNN (WBZ) ― Clear Channel is donating one of its billboards to aide in the search for a missing 5-year-old Lynn boy.

Giovanni Gonzalez' picture will be put up on a Clear Channel's billboards in Lynn's Wyoma Square next week.

Giovanni has been missing since Aug. 16 when his mother went to pick him up from a weekend visit with his father, Ernesto Gonzalez.

Gonzalez has refused to cooperate with police and will not say what happened to Giovanni. He is being held on $500,000 cash bail on charges of child endangerment.

On Thursday, police said they are planning a new search for the boy, but they won't say where or when they will search. Investigators are continuing to interview people, and in some cases, are re-interviewing, hoping to get more information in the case.

Investigators in Lynn are still hopeful that Giovanni is alive despite a bloody mop being found at his father's home after the boy's disappearance. Upon his arrest, Ernesto Gonzalez had a cut on his hand that he wouldn't explain.

The search for the young boy has spanned throughout Lynn, including parks, cemeteries and lakes, and down to Puerto Rico where Gonzalez is from. Giovanni's mother has pleaded to Gonzalez to talk to police.

Police urge anyone with information about Giovanni's whereabouts to contact Lynn police at 781-595-2000.

http://wbztv.com/local/bloody.mop.found.2.810435.html

Excellent sleuthing Kellysan. I was wondering where this one went. sara

[Kellapple]

Excellent sleuthing Kellysan. I was wondering where this one went. sara

I know the poor little sweety's story keeps getting lost in the media. BUT he is still missing. There's a good chance he's alive because the dad just wants to hurt the mom. I keep praying for this one.

[Kellapple]

A boy is gone, mother's hope stays

5-year-old has been missing 3 weeks

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | September 5, 2008

Some days, it is only a mother's intuition that keeps Daisy Colon's spirit going strong.

"In my heart, I know he's alive," the East Boston woman said in a phone interview yesterday.

Colon's 5-year-old son, Giovanni Gonzalez, has been missing since Aug. 16, a day after she dropped him off in Lynn with his father, Ernesto Gonzalez Jr., she said.

Gonzalez has told Lynn police and State Police assigned to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office that Colon never dropped off the child. But neighbors said they saw Gonzalez and a boy now believed to be Giovanni playing at the father's Brightwood Terrace apartment on the afternoon of Aug. 16.

Gonzalez is being held on $500,000 cash bail and is refusing to talk to investigators, who are determined more than ever to reunite the child with his mother.

"We are not giving up," Blodgett said this week. "We are not sparing any expense or effort to find him. We are not even at the point of thinking of giving up."

Yesterday, Blodgett and Lynn police jointly said they are mapping out a new search strategy with State Police but declined to be more specific, citing the investigation.

Police have already made multiple sweeps of the downtown neighborhood where the elder Gonzalez lived, as well as Flax Pond, cemeteries, parks, and nearby stores. Gonzalez, authorities said, did not own a car, was considered a loner, and was not known to have extensive financial resources.

Authorities also said yesterday that Clear Channel will provide a billboard next week in Lynn that will display pictures of Giovanni and his father.

Blodgett said investigators have pursued hopeful, but ultimately dead-end leads, such as a report that the boy was seen in Lawrence and another tip that he was driven to Florida.

Gonzalez was a meatcutter at a Lynn company, where his employers have been very cooperative with investigators, Blodgett said. Speaking only in vague terms, he said "we've taken some samples from different things, and we are having that tested."

Blodgett said investigators are now working to eliminate possibilities but are extremely reluctant to consider the possibility that the child has lost his life.

"We are keeping our energy up by operating under the belief that he is alive, and he is out there, and we are going to keep looking for him," Blodgett said.

Giovanni's disappearance has drawn the attention of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Ernie Allen, president of the center, said experience has shown that most children are reunited with their loved ones, even if it sometimes takes weeks, months, or years.

The center is circulating Giovanni's photograph around the country and in Puerto Rico, where his father has relatives, he said.

"It's a very frustrating case," Allen said. "Our hope is that somebody will come forward with information. We are concerned about Giovanni's safety."

According to court records, the elder Gonzalez has had occasional violent outbursts, but Colon said she never saw him act out of line toward their son. And, even now, she still cannot understand why the father of her son sits in jail, silent.

"I'm breaking my head," Colon said. "I think every day, every night, 'Why? Why would he do something like that?' There is no answer."

Allen said that studies show that 80 percent of custodial kidnappings spring from anger between the adults. The child, he said, is used merely as a means to lash out.

He said custodial kidnappings most often end without the child suffering physical injury. Emotional damage is severe, however, he said.

"There really is hope," he said. "Just because it's been [since Aug. 16] doesn't mean that this is gloom and doom. . . . Somebody knows where Giovanni is. We believe he is alive."

Police asked anyone with information to contact Lynn police or State Police assigned to Blodgett's office.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/09/05/a_boy_is_gone_mothers_hope_stays?mode=PF

[Kellapple]

Questions Haunt Missing Lynn Boy's Mother

September 5, 2008
Karen Anderson LYNN (WBZ)

It's been three weeks since Giovanni Gonzalez's mother dropped the 5 year old off with his father in Lynn, and there is no sign of the little boy.

Giovanni's mother, Daisy Colon, says she sleeps with his pillow, to try to keep him close, just hoping that he will come home.

"I think about him. Is he scared? Is he eating? Is he asking questions like always? Is he being taken care of? Is someone with him? Is he asking for mommy?" Colon said through tears.

"I feel he is close, but at the same time, where is he? Is he playing? Is he happy? Is he crying? All those questions are haunting me right now and not knowing is killing me," she added.

District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said police had a meeting Thursday, and they are again expanding their search. He said the State Police SERT team, based in Framingham, will be coming in to assist in areas they have already checked as well as new areas.

"We've explored every lead to date," Blodgett said. "We've had information he was located in Lawrence as recently as last Saturday, and our State police and Lawrence Police Department were up at midnight looking at an apartment. It proved not to be fruitful but that's the kind of effort we're going to continue to expend."

Giovanni's picture will also be up on a billboard in Lynn soon. It was the idea of a 16-year-old young man, Richard Yearwood, of Lynn. He said he wanted to do something to help, and got the idea for the billboard.

Yearwood said he called Clear Channel Communications, which owns the billboard, and they agreed to put up Giovanni and his father's picture to try to generate new leads for police. When Giovanni's mother learned what Yearwood did, it brought tears to her eyes.

"I think that's amazing," she said. "I'm speechless right now. Coming from a 16 year old -- I thought it was from the adults and owners. I know Giovanni is going appreciate that a lot. It's amazing that a 16 year old had that thought."

Investigators say Ernesto Gonzalez is still not cooperating with police. He remains locked up and is being held on $500,000, charged with child endangerment.

http://wbztv.com/local/bloody.mop.found.2.810966.html

[Kellapple]

West Lynner aids search for Giovanni

Friday, September 5, 2008
By Thor Jourgensen / The Daily Item

LYNN - Between rounding out summer and preparing for school, 16-year-old West Lynn resident Richard Yearwood found time to urge outdoor advertising giant Clear Channel to put missing Giovanni Gonzalez' face on its Wyoma Square billboard next week.

Clear Channel spokeswoman Lisa Dollinger was checking Thursday to determine if the company could comply with the request, but District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office confirmed the company is devoting the billboard free of charge to the search for the five-year-old.

It will include pictures of Giovanni and his father, Ernesto Gonzalez, along with pertinent information.

Yearwood, whose family moved to the North Shore from North Carolina six years ago, got the inspiration to propose the billboard from conversations with fellow Greater Lynn Senior Services workers since Aug. 17, the day the five year-old's mother reported him missing.

"We talked about it every day and wanted to know the latest news, especially after they put up posters asking for the public's help," Yearwood said.

Ernesto Gonzalez is in the Essex House of Correction in Middleton charged with child endangerment. He is scheduled to return to District Court on Sept. 17. He told police on Aug. 17 that he had not seen the boy since a visit on Aug. 10. A telephone message on the boy's mother's phone from Gonzalez confirmed for police Daisy Colon's claim that she dropped Giovanni off with his father at Gonzalez' Brightwood Terrace apartment on Aug. 15.

Lynn and State Police met Thursday at the Lynn police station to map their strategy in the continuing search for the little boy.

Investigators are currently working on the logistics of the search with State Police headquarters in Framingham, but will not reveal at this time where the next search areas will be, or when those efforts will take place, due to the ongoing investigation.

Police are continuing to conduct interviews, and in some cases are re-interviewing people in an effort to obtain additional information about Giovanni's whereabouts.

Investigators are once again asking the public to call Lynn police with any information they have about this case. The number for the Lynn Police Department is 781-595-2000.

http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2008/09/05/news/news01.txt

[Kellapple]

Lynn resident Richard Yearwood holds up the poster of Giovanni and Ernesto Gonzalez Thursday. Item photo / Reba M. Saldanha

http://i38.tinypic.com/sg7khk.jpg

[SaraSidle]

Lynn resident Richard Yearwood holds up the poster of Giovanni and Ernesto Gonzalez Thursday. Item photo / Reba M. Saldanha

http://i38.tinypic.com/sg7khk.jpg

You know it is kind of like if she did not drop him off she hid him..the witnesses seeing them together may have been mistaken by looks or times but if she did drop him off maybe he is hiding him. Giovanni is such a great name. I am sure the police are looking at bank records,phone records and cell phone pings............I hope something comes up soon........imo sara

[Kellapple]

The billboard sits atop a building in Lynn's Wyoma Square.

http://i34.tinypic.com/2aervy0.jpg

[Kellapple]

Billboard For Missing Boy Goes Up In Lynn

Sep 11, 2008 3:45 pm US/Eastern

LYNN (WBZ) ― A billboard featuring a missing poster for a 5-year-old boy was unveiled in Lynn.

Clear Channel donated the space to help police in the search for Giovanni Gonzalez, who has been missing since Aug. 16 when his mother went to pick him up from a weekend visit with his father, Ernesto Gonzalez.

The billboard sits atop a building in Lynn's Wyoma Square. It was the brainchild of 16-year-old Rich Yearwood, a Lynn teen who wanted to do something to help. So, he approached Clear Channel about using the billboard space.

"I went and saw it and it was huge!" Yearwood told WBZ. "I felt great that I could try to help out Giovanni's mother."

The search for Giovanni has spanned throughout Lynn, including parks, cemeteries and lakes, and down to Puerto Rico where the boy's father is from.

Gonzalez has refused to cooperate with police and will not say what happened to Giovanni. He is being held on $500,000 cash bail on charges of child endangerment.

Police are now investigating whether or not Gonzalez may have had the help of an accomplice.

Gonzalez did not have a car, so police are also hoping buses and public transportation will offer clues into the little boy's disappearance.

Police urge anyone with information about Giovanni's whereabouts to contact Lynn police at 781-595-2000.

[url]http://wbztv.com/local/Giovanni.gonzalez.billboard.2.815145.html

[Kellapple]

Accomplice May Have Helped Kidnap Giovanni

Sep 10, 2008 7:11 pm US/Eastern

LYNN (WBZ) ― Lynn police are looking into the possibility that someone helped a Lynn father kidnap his 5-year-old son.

Giovanni Gonzalez has been missing since Aug. 16 when his mother went to pick him up from a weekend visit with his father, Ernesto Gonzalez.

Police have always been looking into the fact there may have been an accomplice in the alleged kidnapping, the Essex County District Attorney's Office said.

Gonzalez has refused to cooperate with police and will not say what happened to Giovanni. He is being held on $500,000 cash bail on charges of child endangerment.

Gonzalez did not have a car, so police are now hoping buses and public transportation will offer clues into the little boy's disappearance.

A billboard with Giovanni's picture has been scheduled to be put up in Lynn's Wyoma Square. Clear Channel donated the space in hopes it will help with the search.

Investigators in Lynn say they have no reason to think that Giovanni is not alive despite a bloody mop being found at his father's home after the boy's disappearance. Upon his arrest, Ernesto Gonzalez had a cut on his hand that he wouldn't explain.

The search for the young boy has spanned throughout Lynn, including parks, cemeteries and lakes, and down to Puerto Rico where Gonzalez is from.

Giovanni's mother has pleaded to Gonzalez to talk to police.

Police urge anyone with information about Giovanni's whereabouts to contact Lynn police at 781-595-2000.

http://wbztv.com/local/bloody.mop.found.2.814102.html

[Kellapple]

News Video:

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/Father-remains-uncooperative-in-search-for-missing-boy/1221078455.html

[Kellapple]

Father of missing Lynn boy backs out of court appearance

September 17, 2008

(NECN: Josh Brogadir, Lynn, Mass.) - The father of a missing Lynn, Massachusetts boy was due back in court for a pre-trial hearing this morning, but his attorney waived his court appearance. Ernesto Gonzalez has been held on child endangerment charges since his five-year-old son Giovanni disappeared last month.

Giovanni's mother, Daisy Colon, says she dropped the boy off at his father's Lynn apartment on August 15 and neighbors saw the father and son the following day.

Ernesto told police on August 17 he had not seen the boy for a week. He pleaded not guilty to a child endangerment charge on August 18.

Police say Gonzalez will not talk to them about his son's whereabouts.

Ernesto is currently jailed on $500,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for November.

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/Father-of-missing-Lynn-boy-backs-out-of-court-appearance-/1221668210.html

[Kellapple]

Authorities appeal again for help in finding missing Lynn boy

September 17, 2008 11:58 AM
By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Law enforcement officials appealed again today for the public’s help in finding a 5-year-old Lynn boy who has been missing since mid-August.

Investigators are disappointed and frustrated, but they're also determined to find 5-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez, said John Dawley, first assistant district attorney in Essex County. Gonzalez was last seen Aug. 16.

Dawley spoke to reporters outside Lynn District Court after a pretrial hearing in the case against Ernesto Gonzalez Jr., 36, the boy’s father. The father faces a charge of child endangerment and is being held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail.

Dawley said investigators have essentially eliminated the possibility the child was taken to Puerto Rico, where his father has family.

The prosecution and defense have filed a series of motions. Another hearing was slated for Nov. 18.

Giovanni's mother, Daisy Colon, has told police she had dropped her son at the father's home. The father denied ever having the boy and refused to cooperate, though witnesses told police they saw the father and son together the weekend the boy went missing.

Investigators are asking people with any information to call the Lynn Police at 781-595-2000. Dawley said even the slightest clue could help.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/09/authorities_app.html

[Kellapple]

Mother hopeful missing 5-year-old son still alive

September 18, 2008

LYNN, Mass. -- The mother of a missing 5-year-old is holding out hope that her son is still alive.

Giovanni Gonzalez has been missing for more than a month, and the boy's father, Ernesto Gonzalez, refused to show his face in court Wednesday.

Ernesto GonZales' constituional rights allowed him to steer clear of the courtroom. Gonzalez is being held on child endangerment charges.

"I was hoping he would come upstairs and say something," said Daisy Colon, Giovanni's mother. "I mean it's been 30 days."

The 5-year-old was last seen visiting with his father at his Lynn apartment.

An exhaustive search of the neighborhood has turned up nothing leaving investigators frustrated and developing a plan B

"We're now going back and reviewing what we haven't done and perhaps review what we've already done to do in a better way," said John Dawley, First Assistant DA Essex County.

Investigators are even following up on tips they say lack credibility, but they say they haven't given up hope that the little boy is still alive.

"We're obviously hopeful he's still alive," Dawley said. "We're hopeful we'll find the one tip or lead that will get us closer to finding him today, but again, we have to be realistic on our assessment."

The assessment includes investigating whether the child was left in the trash that the City of Lynn burns on a regular basis.

Investigators working round the clock on this case say they are now convinced Giovanni is not in Puerto Rico where his father's family still lives.

http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO88407/

[Kellapple]

Life without Giovanni

By Yvonne Abraham
Globe Columnist / September 21, 2008

Even when it comes, sleep brings no relief to Daisy Colon.

"Last night I dreamed somebody tied me to the bed, and I couldn't get free," she says. "The time was flying. The sun was going up and down, up and down, up and down. I was trying to call my mom, but all I could make was this noise."

She is helpless during her waking hours, too.

Five weeks ago today, Colon went to pick up her son Giovanni Gonzalez after a weekend at his father Ernesto's place in Lynn. They weren't there. She waited for them for hours, then called police. They found Ernesto, but there was no sign of Giovanni. The father denied having seen his son at all that weekend.

Desperate, incensed, Daisy confronted Ernesto at the police station. She demanded to know where her son was. Offered not to press charges. Begged him.

"You have him," he kept saying. "You have him."

And to this day, even after being charged with child endangerment and jailed on $500,000 bail, Ernesto has nothing more to say about the 5-year-old with the wide smile and the Spiderman obsession.

So Daisy Colon drags herself through the days, separated from her beloved child, frustrated, empty.

She forces herself to eat once a day. She chain-smokes Newports on her East Boston stoop. She hugs her daughter Angie, not yet 2, affecting cheeriness for her sake. She stays out of her son's room, where all of his toys are in a box in a corner because she can't bear to look at them.

She plays the same gospel song over and over in her car on the way to see the Essex County DA: "My soul magnifies the Lord. You're my strength. You're my shield." She closes her eyes at stoplights to take in the words. God has a reason for putting her through this, she says.

Every day, every couple of hours, she calls the DA and the Lynn police to ask if there's anything new.

There is nothing new.

Because Ernesto Gonzalez, sitting in his cell, says nothing.

"Do you think he might read this in prison?" Daisy asks. "If he's reading this, I want to say something that will catch his attention."

After 35 days, what could catch his attention?

She pauses, searching.

Finally, she settles on this: "You wanted to hurt me, and you did. It's killing me inside. But it's Giovanni's future, and he needs to show up soon. If you know where he is or if somebody has him, just put him somewhere public - a hospital, a post office, a police station, a mall - anywhere that he can say his name and where he lives."

Her heart tells her Giovanni is alive. Even when police found a blood-stained mop at Ernesto's place, Daisy refused to believe her son had been hurt. Investigators found that the blood was not Giovanni's.

"My mind has a lot of those thoughts, but my heart is straight on one thing," she says. "He's OK."

Still, he has missed out on the start of kindergarten at the Samuel Adams School. He must miss his precious Superman suit with the padded chest muscles. He must be asking questions.

As police follow a host of so-far fruitless leads, Ernesto seems ready to stay right where he is - saying nothing, waiting everybody out. He hasn't sought a bail reduction. He seems utterly disconnected, not even bothering to use all of his telephone privileges.

They can't hold him forever. He has a court date in November to answer the charges. Even if convicted, he faces a maximum of 2 1/2 years in a house of correction.

Maybe he's figuring 2 1/2 years isn't that long to endure, if it means getting away with whatever it is he may have done.

But every minute of Giovanni's life is precious. And for Daisy, every minute without him is torture.

The minutes pile up by the thousand, and the sun goes up and down, up and down.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/21/life_without_giovanni/

[Kellapple]

Giovanni & his mama
http://i35.tinypic.com/zyit1v.gif

Daisy Colon talks to media
http://i33.tinypic.com/5fjay9.jpg

[Kellapple]

Judge denies lower bail for father of missing boy

September 26, 2008

SALEM, Mass.—A judge has refused to lower bail for the father of a missing 5-year-old boy.

Ernesto Gonzalez, of Lynn, is being held on $500,000 on a child endangerment charge. Prosecutors say his son, Giovanni Gonzalez, was last seen with his father more than a month ago.

A public defender asked in Salem Superior Court Friday for a reduction in bail to $14,000, arguing that the state has no probable cause to believe that Gonzalez put his son in any danger. But a prosecutor argued that Gonzalez would be a flight risk if released.

Judge Howard Whitehead declined to lower the $500,000 bail.

Prosecutors say the boy was dropped off at his father's home Aug. 15. When the boy's mother went to pick him up two days later, Gonzalez said their son wasn't there.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/26/judge_denies_lower_bail_for_father_of_missing_boy/

[Kellapple]

Father Says He Doesn't Know Where Lynn Boy Is

Sep 26, 2008 9:26 pm US/Eastern

LYNN (WBZ) ― Five-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez of Lynn has been missing for six weeks and the one person who may know where he is isn't talking -- his father.

Ernesto Gonzalez was back in court on Friday, arguing he should be able to get out of jail even, if he isn't helping police find Giovanni.

As he was led out of the courthouse and put in a police van, WBZ's Karen Anderson asked where his little boy was.

"Don't know where Giovanni is at," Gonzalez said.

After that, Gonzalez wouldn't say anymore.

In court, Gonzalez showed no emotion. Prosecutors told the judge he was the last person to see his son Giovanni.

After Giovanni's mother dropped him off for a weekend custody visit in Lynn, the father and son were seen together at a therapist appointment. "And there was an independent professional saying 'We saw his son on Saturday.' For all of Sunday, no one can account for the whereabouts of this child," the prosecutor said.

Police searches in neighborhoods and nearby woods also turned up nothing. "There was a time when the defendant was living out in the woods, and they searched those areas as well," the prosecutor said in court.

Giovanni's attorney, Lawrence McGuire, says prosecutors are grasping at straws, and claims there is no reason to hold Gonzalez on high bail for a child endangerment charge. "He has minded his own business and that's all the Commonwealth has, some suspicion."

The judge denied the defense's request for lower bail, explaining that Gonzalez leads the lifestyle of a loaner, has few roots in the community, and given the circumstances is a flight risk. He remains behind bars on $500,000 bail.

Prosecutors say police also have not been able to find Giovanni's clothes or his backpack. The judge told prosecutors that this could be a hard case to prove.

http://wbztv.com/local/missing.lynn.child.2.826939.html

[Kellapple]

Ernesto Gonzalez being led out of court on Friday.
WBZ
http://i36.tinypic.com/33w857b.jpg

[SaraSidle]

Ernesto Gonzalez being led out of court on Friday.
WBZ
http://i36.tinypic.com/33w857b.jpg

Dang I hope they follow him or put a bug on him and wiretap his phones. IMO