There's a new and unexpected twist involving the mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson. The boy was last seen in 2009 at just 8 months old. If he’s still alive, he’s about to become a big brother.
His mother, Elizabeth Johnson is pregnant.
More on that in just a moment.
As for Gabriel, Johnson took him with her to go to San Antonio more than a decade ago. What happened next? Only she knows for sure.
At one point, Johnson texted the boy’s father, Logan McQueary, saying she killed Gabriel and dumped his body in the trash. However, when she was arrested in Texas, she told police it was only to get back at the father for a custody dispute.
After a lengthy investigation, Johnson would eventually claim she gave away Gabriel to a couple in San Antonio. But Gabriel was never found. The case went to trial and jurors couldn’t reach a verdict on kidnapping charges, so Johnson only spent a few years behind bars on lesser charges before getting out in 2014.
At the time, Johnson said in court, “there are things I need to do to be a better person and be who I want to be.”
And apparently, Johnson wants to be a mother again. In fact, according to family members and her own social media posts, Johnson – who now goes by Elizabeth Martinez - is 30 weeks pregnant and living in New Mexico.
ABC15 caught up with Sandy Peters, McQueary’s aunt.
“I’m super disappointed in the whole system. A system that will allow her to have another baby when her first baby is missing and she can't show if he's alive or dead,” said Peters.
Knowing the pain of missing Gabriel already, Peters worries about what could happen to Elizabeth’s new child.
“I pray for their new baby that it stays safe, because I don't know that Elizabeth is capable of keeping it safe,” said Peters.
As for Gabriel, ABC15 has spoken with his father several times over the years. To this day, he has never given up hope. Logan McQueary says he “wants to believe and chooses to believe” that Gabriel is still alive.
Gabriel’s family now has a group of retired FBI agents from San Antonio looking further into the case, in hopes of providing answers.
If Gabriel is still alive, his 12th birthday was just last week.
