Tammi Smith and Elizabeth Johnson scheduled to go to trial Aug 9 to face criminal charges in the case of the missing Gabriel Johnson/ / Johnson said she killed her son Gabriel/ Audio of Elizabeth's call to Logan just released 12/14/10

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Rain_halts_East_Side_landfill_excavation.html
Web Posted: 02/12/2010 12:00 CST

Rain on Thursday halted the excavation of an East Side landfill where officials have been searching this week for evidence in the disappearance of an Arizona infant.

“The excavation has been suspended for the day because of the inclement weather,” said San Antonio Police Department spokeswoman Sandy Gutierrez. “But we hope to resume Friday.”

Police Chief William McManus said at a news conference Tuesday that the landfill was targeted because it's tied to a trash bin at a hotel on San Pedro Avenue where Elizabeth Johnson, 23, claimed to have suffocated Gabriel Johnson, placed him in a diaper bag and disposed of his body.

Police continue to investigate a separate missing person case on the 9-month-old because Johnson also claimed she gave him to a couple in a San Antonio park.

Private companies have donated more than $100,000 worth of personnel, equipment and services for the excavation, which began at the Tessman Road Landfill Tuesday. It will take several more days to remove a total of 1.8 million cubic feet of debris that officials have estimated sits atop a layer where police believe the baby's remains or evidence could be.

The particular section of the landfill has been cordoned off since Dec. 27, the day Johnson allegedly sent a text message to Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary, saying she killed the boy.

Vicky Waddy, a spokeswoman for Zachry Construction Corp., said her company's work has also temporarily halted at the site, but five employees have been operating an excavator and three dump trucks in the dig since Tuesday.

She estimated the cost of the employees' work, which includes loading dump trucks with debris and unloading the dump trucks at another section of the landfill, is $30,000. But that amount could change if rain continues to fall, complicating the operation.

“The problem isn't just the rain coming down, but whether there's a stable foundation for our excavator,” she said.

A spokesman for Yantis Co. said a crew is on standby to help police in the second phase of the landfill operation, which includes sifting through debris for evidence. That process, which costs an estimated $30,000, will begin once the landfill site has been excavated to 45 feet, police said.

Yantis employees will then use equipment, including two excavators, to move the debris to a nearby secure site, which police have declined to disclose, to allow for the arduous process of searching through the trash. Police will use search teams and cadaver dogs, McManus said.

“Right now, we're waiting for the Zachry crews to finish their part,” said Yantis spokesman Paul Basaldua. “We hope to start sometime next week, pending weather. If it continues to rain, it's harder to sift through that material because it becomes more compacted and claylike.”


Current Weather Forecast

Chilling thought, I agree, and it is possible. I have come to wondering about something else regarding the thoughts of EJ during this time. To begin with, who abandoned baby in the first place?---Did Logan move out without either one of them? In my state, I knew a woman who left her husband and 4 kids and moved out without thinking. When she did that, she was charged with abandoning her children and could never get custody after the divorce.
Secondly, was it in EJ's mind that Logan's custody might not be permanent and that, if he went back to his old ways of burglarizing homes and stealing, he might end up in jail and Gabriel would be thrown into the foster home system from which she herself came? Did she fear this? She called him a liar, what is it that he lies about? All this has me wondering about how the custody being given to Logan played out in her mind.
She went through so much trouble to adopt him out, it seems to me that it would have taken a lot to make her change her mind and kill him instead. She could have done that at any time beforehand and didn't. In spite of her temper tantrums, she never hurt her baby before this time.

I have a question...isn't there a federal law against infringing on another person's civil rights? What would be wrong with LE/courts having the right and responsibility of enforcing that and making sure it does not happen rather than punishing after the fact? I don't see how this girl can be allowed to sit there in jail and not co-operate when a child's life/body is in danger. She should be forced to tell the truth.

It is beginning to read like a mystery thriller, a Lifetime movie, this search for Baby Gabriel Johnson, especially now that the father, who has set off on a cross-country retracing of the route that the mother took to San Antonio with his 8-month-old son, has become the victim of a suspicious burglary in the Texas city. Some believe that Logan McQueary may have stirred up some of the underground element that deals in human trafficking and/or illegal baby adoptions in the area by asking questions about his missing son. Because it does seem strange that the thief (or thieves) that broke into McQueary's vehicle took only one thing and left other items that might be considered valuable.

The thief (or thieves) took a GPS system.

It doesn't sound like much and under normal circumstances, the GPS system being stolen from a vehicle might not mean much. But in this case, considering that Baby Gabriel Johnson's story has made national headlines and been covered on numerous current affair programs, it was common knowledge that Logan McQueary was retracing the route taken by Elizabeth Johnson in late December. It was also known that McQueary was using the coordinates gathered from the GPS system in Elizabeth Johnson's vehicle. And Logan McQueary had been asking around about illegally adopting babies in San Antonio...

Could the thief (or thieves) have thought they were protecting themselves by taking McQueary's GPS, not knowing that he was following the coordinates of a GPS (and that the GPS was not the original with Johnson's coordinates)? Could the thief (or thieves) have been trying to protect whoever has Baby Gabriel Johnson?

The theft is suspicious in that bags of luggage and portable radios sitting in the truck's seats were left undisturbed.

Logan McQueary and his family have been warned by police to refrain from interviews for awhile.

Other than a vague description of the couple she supposedly gave her son to (or may have sold him to) in a park in San Antonio, Elizabeth Johnson refuses to cooperate in the finding of her missing baby. Investigators do not know whether to believe the San Antonio giveaway story or the story she gave Miami authorities when she was picked up on a custodial interference warrant on Dec. 29. She retracted what she had texted Logan McQueary on Dec. 27 that she had killed and disposed of Baby Gabriel Johnson's body. Johnson told Miami authorities that she had only texted McQueary such a horrible message for revenge, for his having ruined her life.

In the meantime, authorities in Arizona and Texas have been conducting a dual investigation: missing person and homicide.

But the story does read like a dramatic thriller: a young man searches for his missing son, while the forces arrayed against him conspire to keep his son from him. No doubt the story will one day be made into an actual movie. And the missing GPS might be an important part of the story -- or it might be a simple petty theft. Unfortunately for Logan McQueary, his family, and the authorities involved in the investigation, the plot is all too real, the storyline one of actual events unfolding.

And the search for missing Baby Gabriel Johnson continues...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2692911/baby_gabriel_johnsons_father_victim_pg2.html?cat=17

Someone said something on NG tonight re the Haleigh
Cummings case, that Misty would rather stay in jail and be known as a drug dealer than a baby killer.
It may be that EJ would rather stay in jail and be known as someone who adopted her child out illegally than killed him.

A renowned private investigator and four of his associates who are conducting a nationwide search of missing 9-month-old Gabriel Johnson believe the boy is still alive and they are close to finding him.

Jay J. Armes, whose office is based in El Paso, Texas, told the Tribune he believes Gabriel Johnson has fallen victim to an underground adoption, and he and his investigators are following up on more than 350 leads nationwide that include sightings of the boy.

Armes, who has 40 years of investigative experience, has a claim to fame of finding actor Marlon Brando’s son, Christian Brando, who was kidnapped in 1972 and held in Mexico for ransom.

Armes, who did not reveal his whereabouts or his strategy to find the Gabriel, said his office has been receiving 70 tips a day for the last week on the “Baby Gabriel” case that has received national attention.

“My feelings about the child, my gut feeling, is that he’s still alive,” Armes said. “I have no thought otherwise. There have been no clues that the baby is dead. I’m very optimistic that we’re close to finding him. If we do this investigation right, it’ll come out right.”

Armes said he has recovered 150 children from underground adoption cases of the 300 such cases he’s been involved in. He said he is familiar with underground adoption rings, including those south of the border in Mexico, where he believes Gabriel might have wound up. People will pay as much as $50,000 for a child in an underground adoption after a child is sometimes kidnapped and taken south of the border, according to Armes.

Armes said he was retained to direct a national search for Gabriel, but offered his services pro-bono to McQueary’s family last week. Armes said a woman working for a missing children’s group in California brought the case to his attention, and he said he knew McQueary did not have the financial means to hire private investigators.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/150637

by Marvin Hurst / KENS 5

Posted on February 12, 2010 at 8:31 AM

Updated yesterday at 10:27 AM
******

Sources have revealed to KENS 5 that when Elizabeth Johnson vacated her hotel room at the Homegate Inn & Suites in late December, she left behind all of her son's personal belongings.

But there reportedly was one item investigators could not find: a green diaper bag that belonged to Gabriel Johnson. Of course, the 8-month-old was missing too.

A joint investigation involving authorities in San Antonio and Arizona led to a portion of the Tessman Road Landfill being roped off.

Johnson reportedly sent the baby's father, Logan McQueary, a text message saying she had killed their child, placed him in a bag and put his body in a dumpster. Trash from her hotel would come to the area where San Antonio police are currently searching.

That's where sources said police are looking for a green diaper bag or suitcase that could contain the child's body.

San Antonio police have called the case both a missing person case and a capital murder investigation.

Sources said the young mother's text to Gabriel's father declared she would direct him to their child's blue body if the garbage does not take him prior to that alert.

Johnson allegedly came to San Antonio trying to elude child custody issues with McQueary. Sources said she wanted to adopt little Gabriel to Tempe, Arizona couple Jack and Tammi Smith.

KENS 5 has learned that police have evidence of communication between the Smiths and Johnson while she was in San Antonio.

According to sources, they allegedly were discussing ways to conduct an illegal adoption. But police reportedly have not been able to conclude that such an adoption ever happened.

Sources said police did find witnesses who saw Johnson shopping without Gabriel the day she abandoned her grandfather's vehicle at a south-side Motel 6.

Investigators say that's when she used a fake last name to buy a bus ticket to Miami, Florida. Sources said the child did not make the trip. Johnson was arrested on child custody charges in Florida.

Police have said the mother was uncooperative. She reportedly said Gabriel was given to a couple in a San Antonio park.

But sources said subsequent questioning of the toddler's mother revealed inconsistencies in her story. Plus, investigators allegedly believe the missing child's story garnered so much national media attention that it's peculiar that they have not received any reports of sightings of Gabriel.

As a result, investigators reportedly think the child really could be a capital murder victim and unthinkably was tossed away like garbage.

Video here:

http://www.kens5.com/news/Exclusive-Police-search-for-green-bag-with-Gabriel-Johnsons-body-84220907.html

This is crazy!! One report says they are looking for a green bag with a possibility of Gabriel's body in it and the other says Aarms is certain Gabriel was adopted/kidnapped in an illegal adoption.

Question: Is Tammi Smith back in jail?? Sorry, but this case confuses me. They are searching a landfill, No - they are NOT searching a landfill. They think the baby is dead. NO, they think the baby was adopted illegally. Logan is a bad person. No, Logan is a good person. EJ sold her body, NO EJ did NOT sell her body. One pizza was ordered, NO two pizza's were ordered.

Wrapitup wrote:Question: Is Tammi Smith back in jail?? Sorry, but this case confuses me. They are searching a landfill, No - they are NOT searching a landfill. They think the baby is dead. NO, they think the baby was adopted illegally. Logan is a bad person. No, Logan is a good person. EJ sold her body, NO EJ did NOT sell her body. One pizza was ordered, NO two pizza's were ordered.

Ditto. This is how everybody is thinking these days about this case.

Im really rather sick of individuals saying they have a "gut feeling". Its more likely indigestion then anything solid regarding this case.

Hey, Art, do you mind if I say "I feel it in my bones"? :lol!:

No Terry Im sure your bones have more savvy than these publicity seeking opportunists!

So, I still want to know: IS Tammi Smith BACK in jail???

NO

On Wednesday, February 3, 2010, Tammi Smith, a person of interest in Baby Gabriel’s disappearance was released from a Maricopa County jail. Tammi Smith posted a $15,000 bond and spoke with media as she left. Both Tammi and her husband are accusing the Tempe Police Department of trumping up charges against here.

http://www.examiner.com/x-32312-Amber-Alerts-Examiner~y2010m2d4-Gabriel-Johnson-still-missing-Tammi-Smith-released-from-jail

. In the case of missing nine-month-old Gabriel Johnson, will there be a cat fight between Elizabeth Joanne Johnson, 23, and Tammi Peters Smith, 37, in court on Friday February 12, 2010? Johnson is the mother and kidnapper of Baby Gabriel. Person of interest Tammi Smith is the woman who had wanted to adopt Baby Gabriel and who kept in close contact with Johnson during her kidnapping venture in Texas. She may even have masterminded the venture.

Both women have criminal charges against them. Both have a Preliminary Hearing at 8:30am at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Arizona. Elizabeth Johnson is represented by public defender Jon Eliason; Tammi Smith is represented by high profile attorney Michael D. Kimerer. Defendants Johnson and Smith will face the Plaintiff's County Criminal Attorney. The Plaintiff is the State of Arizona.

Elizabeth Johnson has two court cases against her. For the first case, she is charged with 'Conspiracy to Commit Custodial Interference', a Class 4 felony. For the second, she is charged with 'Custodial Interference' and 'Child Abuse', both Class 4 felonies; she is also charged with the Class 2 felony of 'Kidnapping'. Johnson has made a plea of 'Not Guilty'. She is held on two bail amounts— $100,000 for the first case and $1 million for the second. The two amounts combined make up her $1.1 million cash-only bond. Johnson is imprisoned in Maricopa County's Estrella Jail.

Tammi Smith has one court case against her for the charges 'Forgery' and 'Conspiracy to Commit Custodial Interference'. She was also charged with 'Custodial Interference' but that charge was soon dropped because there was yet insufficient evidence for prosecution. However, that same charge may have been reinstated. All three charges are Class 4 felonies. After a $15-thousand bond was posted by her husband Jack Smith, Tammi Smith left the 4th Avenue Jail, where she had spent just one day and one night, February 2—3, and returned to her half-million-dollar home in Scottsdale.

The Maricopa County Superior Court posted a bail on Tammi Smith rather than allow her an unsecured release for these reasons: 1) she has the financial means to flee the state; 2) she has contacts in Texas, Tennessee, and Louisiana; 3) she has been untruthful re her role in the crime; 4) she has displayed extreme measures to try to get Gabriel Johnson.

The extreme measures that Tammi Smith used are: a) she falsely placed a cousin's name on Johnson's paternity petition to the court; b) she called a Superior Court judge requesting direct help in acquiring Gabriel Johnson; c) she asked a friend's aid in committing forgery; d) she used the news media to verbally make false statements re the investigation, which affected incoming tips to the police re the investigation; e) she said Gabriel Johnson's father, Logan McQueary, had threatened her— hard evidence showed he had not. f) she told Tempe police that she would use an attorney to pressure McQueary to give up his custodial rights to Gabriel. Smith is no McQueary friend and has publicly slandered him.

Tammi Smith was once a strong supporter of Elizabeth Johnson but has since turned on her. Once saying she felt sorry for Johnson, Smith now says she was played by her. Except for one phone interview after her arrest, Johnson has been silent and with the Tempe police, she has been uncooperative. But during a January 2010 visit from Smith to her jail, Johnson accused Smith— "You're the one who set this up." Smith told the news media of the visit and her own response— "What? What are you talking about?" Smith told reporters, "And I was really freaked out by that because I didn't think she would just tell a lie like that." Smith apparently knows what Johnson was talking about.

The set-up appears to be the transaction of an underground adoption for Baby Gabriel in San Antonio Texas. Baby Gabriel was last seen, with his mother, on December 26, 2009. There was at least one sighting. Mother and son were seen in surveillance footage taken just outside Six Flags Fiesta Texas, a known meeting ground for mothers to hand over their babies to the adoptive parents. Johnson had stayed with Baby Gabriel at the HomeGate Studios & Suites hotel, a place used by underground adoption agencies to meet with a parent and do the adoption paperwork. Tammi Smith and her husband have knowledge and experience in the adoption process, some on the shady side according to a Smith insider.

Thus far, Johnson has not only been silent but also sullen. But will she start talking? Will there be a cat fight on Friday? If there is, Tammi Smith will win. She is glib, confident, and ever-ready not just with comebacks but also with verbose attacks that sound good even when illogical and bogus— as they often are. Here's what her arresting officer had to say about Smith and her husband: "Tammi and Jack Smith have used the media to make many statements that later have been found to be inaccurate regarding their [the Smiths'] involvement in the investigation."

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2689503/tammi_smith_court_cat_fight_w_baby_pg2.html?cat=9

Fri, Feb 12th has come and gone.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, BJ. I knew she got out but was not sure she went back in or not.

Does anyone know what happened in court?

:moved: off topic post to Whats on your mind thread.

I am still very disturbed the fact this beautiful little boy is still not found. I have several questions that are running through my mind and I just can't let go of them. When this story first broke it was very hard for me to look at this beautiful little boys face without my heart breaking. But as I read the rest of the story my brain quickly went into psychologist mode. I started to analysis this young womens state of mind, which was not to hard to do. She is defintely off balance and probably Bi-polar but not stupid. She knows exactly what she is doing. I have read the text messages she sent to the child's father in reference to suffacating the baby and putting his little blue body in the bag and putting him the dumpster. she was very callous and showed no remorse for what she had done. She wanted to make sure he knew that he was never going to see his son again. In her next statement she said as soon as she is safe out of the country she would email him with the location of the baby's body is if it has not been picked up by the garbage truck. EJ wanted to make sure he knew that she was in control not him. She didn't want this baby but was going to make darn sure that the father was not going to have him either. When EJ was arrested of course realizing she was in far more trouble than she thought she recanted her confession, thinking this would all just blow over if she said she gave the baby away to a couple in the park. She said she only sent that text message to hurt Logan. But that wasn't the case, I have been asking if the police had ever found the diper back from the pictures when they searched the room. But was not able to get and answer until today. I found out today that the diper bag was the one thing that was not recovered. So my instinct has been telling me that this baby is in that diper bag in that landfill. But I have been hoping that I am wrong and that their might be some truth to the underground adoption theory. But my gut keeps telling that the child is not with us anymore. There are to many inconsistancies in her story and I just can't graps the idea that this baby was sold or adopted underground. With her unwillingness to help identify the couple or cooporate makes it even more unblievable. I keep coming back to the text message she sent, because she was so vivid with the details of what she had done and how she gloated about it. It is my experience that when a person admits to something in such a manner and vivd detail that it is usually the truth. No one would say such things just jokingly to hurt someone. My heart is so divided it wants to believe baby Gabriel is alive and well so that his father doesn't have to go through another heartache. The reality is that the heartache of not knowing is far worse then the heartache of having closure. I mean always wondering if the child is safe and being taking care for the rest of your life or being able to grieve and say goodbye that way he can start to rebuild his life. Either way Logan is gonna suffer, I want this little angel to be brought home. I hope and pray that I am proven wrong and that he is alive. Does anyone else feel the way about.... Please remeber it is just my opinion

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2692911/baby_gabriel_johnsons_father_victim.html

Missing Baby Gabriel Johnson's Story Might Sound like a Movie Drama, but it is All Too Real

It is beginning to read like a mystery thriller, a Lifetime movie, this search for Baby Gabriel Johnson, especially now that the father, who has set off on a cross-country retracing of the route that the mother took to San Antonio with his 8-month-old son, has become the victim of a suspicious burglary in the Texas city. Some believe that Logan McQueary may have stirred up some of the underground element that deals in human trafficking and/or illegal baby adoptions in the area by asking questions about his missing son. Because it does seem strange that the thief (or thieves) that broke into McQueary's vehicle took only one thing and left other items that might be considered valuable.

The thief (or thieves) took a GPS system.

It doesn't sound like much and under normal circumstances, the GPS system being stolen from a vehicle might not mean much. But in this case, considering that Baby Gabriel Johnson's story has made national headlines and been covered on numerous current affair programs, it was common knowledge that Logan McQueary was retracing the route taken by Elizabeth Johnson in late December. It was also known that McQueary was using the coordinates gathered from the GPS system in Elizabeth Johnson's vehicle. And Logan McQueary had been asking around about illegally adopting babies in San Antonio...

Could the thief (or thieves) have thought they were protecting themselves by taking McQueary's GPS, not knowing that he was following the coordinates of a GPS (and that the GPS was not the original with Johnson's coordinates)? Could the thief (or thieves) have been trying to protect whoever has Baby Gabriel Johnson?

The theft is suspicious in that bags of luggage and portable radios sitting in the truck's seats were left undisturbed.

Logan McQueary and his family have been warned by police to refrain from interviews for awhile.
Other than a vague description of the couple she supposedly gave her son to (or may have sold him to) in a park in San Antonio, Elizabeth Johnson refuses to cooperate in the finding of her missing baby. Investigators do not know whether to believe the San Antonio giveaway story or the story she gave Miami authorities when she was picked up on a custodial interference warrant on Dec. 29. She retracted what she had texted Logan McQueary on Dec. 27 that she had killed and disposed of Baby Gabriel Johnson's body. Johnson told Miami authorities that she had only texted McQueary such a horrible message for revenge, for his having ruined her life.

In the meantime, authorities in Arizona and Texas have been conducting a dual investigation: missing person and homicide.

But the story does read like a dramatic thriller: a young man searches for his missing son, while the forces arrayed against him conspire to keep his son from him. No doubt the story will one day be made into an actual movie. And the missing GPS might be an important part of the story -- or it might be a simple petty theft. Unfortunately for Logan McQueary, his family, and the authorities involved in the investigation, the plot is all too real, the storyline one of actual events unfolding.

And the search for missing Baby Gabriel Johnson continues...

angeleyes said:

But that wasn't the case, I have been asking if the police had ever found the diper back from the pictures when they searched the room. But was not able to get and answer until today. I found out today that the diper bag was the one thing that was not recovered. So my instinct has been telling me that this baby is in that diper bag in that landfill.

Did you actually phone the police and or go to the police station and ask them the above questions? Do you have inside contacts by chance? If not, who do you mean when you said, "I have been asking?"

BTW, thanks for your insight and Welcome to VH!!

same here, welcome to VH, angeleyes!!

San Antonio police say crews searching a local landfill for clues to the fate of a missing Arizona baby have reached the target level of their dig.
A Wednesday statement from San Antonio Police Chief William McManus says crews had only to reach a 30-foot depth of an expected 45-foot depth in the Tessman Road Landfill.
McManus says a meticulous second phase of the landfill search will begin Thursday. However, he says the hope remains that 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson will be found alive.
He was last seen with his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, shortly after Christmas at a San Antonio hotel. The Tempe, Ariz., woman was later arrested alone on charges of kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference. She told the boy's father she killed Gabriel and dumped him in the trash — a story she later recanted.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6872376.html

Expensive ring may prove Baby Gabriel is alive and adopted, father says

by Marvin Hurst / KENS 5

Posted on February 18, 2010 at 8:44 AM

Updated today at 12:36 PM

******

Logan McQueary does not put much stock in claims his son may be a murder victim.

Gabriel Johnson has been missing since late December when authorities said his mother, Elizabeth, brought him to San Antonio. The child has not been seen since.

San Antonio police launched a capital murder investigation in conjunction with the toddler's missing person case. In fact, they will begin sifting through the Tessman Road Landfill for evidence of his murder Thursday morning.

"I'm really not worried about it that much because I don't think Gabriel's there at all, " McQueary said.

The 25-year-old has searched from Arizona to San Antonio for his missing son.

The baby's mother reportedly wanted to put their child up for adoption. He allegedly disagreed.

Police said that evolved into the 23-year-old mother going on the run. She ended up in Miami without her son.

Johnson was arrested on child custody charges for skipping a hearing regarding Gabriel's custody. Investigators said she was not helpful in determining the child's whereabouts.

She alleged her son was given to a couple in a San Antonio park. But police have found no evidence that ever happened.

McQueary said she reportedly sent him an e-mail claiming she murdered their son, put him in a bag and threw him in a Dumpster before she left town.

That's why the authorities are searching an east-side landfill. The trash from the hotel where she stayed in San Antonio comes to the area they plan to sift for several days.

But Gabriel's father believes his son is the yield of an illegal adoption, not murder.

"It's looking like Elizabeth handed him off to somebody," he claimed. "I don't think Elizabeth did what she said. I think she just said that to hurt me."

The distraught father bases his belief on several clues he's dug up on his own. The most recent revelation is a $20,000 ruby and diamond ring. She reportedly had it in her pocket when she was arrested.

"Sometimes when they give the baby away for adoption they hand over jewelry to the mother," he said.

McQueary believes that unlike cash, the trail for pawned jewelry is more difficult to trace. He's still trying to figure out who gave her the ring.

The Arizona father said Elizabeth had low-paying jobs. In addition, McQueary said in the two years they lived together he never saw that ring.

The expensive piece of jewelry was allegedly handed over to Johnson's grandfather, Arizona authorities said. However, McQueary said the grandfather denies any knowledge of the ring.

"I'm gonna keep searching until they prove me wrong," he said. "Gabriel's still out there. He got handed off to somebody, and we're going to find him."

http://www.kens5.com/news/Baby-Gabriels-father-Expensive-ring-may-prove-son-is-alive-and-adopted-84694897.html

I wonder how they determined it was a $20,000 ring? I thought the grandfather had it.

Rubies don't come cheap.

by NiteSpinR on Sat Jan 23, 2010 2:29 am

It's been reported that Elizabeth has spoken with her Grand Father from jail and asked him to get the cash and an expensive ring she was wearing when she was arrested. Could the ring have been payoff for the baby?


Been wondering about that for some time now.... bet others wonder too! :LE:

SSSSSoooooooooo, a baby is worth $20,000 on the black market?

Wow, that is news! Maybe she did give him away!

In missing baby Gabriel case, a suspect pleads not guilty
by Michael Kiefer - Feb. 18, 2010 12:27 PM
The Arizona Republic .

Tammi Peters Smith, the Scottsdale woman implicated in the case of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, entered not-guilty pleas Thursday morning to felony counts of forgery and conspiracy to commit custodial interference in Maricopa County Superior Court.

She remains free on $15,000 bond.

Tempe police say they believe that Smith is withholding information about the baby's mother, Elizabeth Johnson, who has been charged with kidnapping, child abuse, custodial interference and conspiracy to commit custodial interference.

Johnson and the baby, then 8 months old, disappeared in December in the middle of a custody dispute with the baby's father. Johnson was later arrested in Miami and remains in custody. The baby has not been found, and investigators have not determined whether the child is alive. San Antonio police are searching a landfill in that city because the baby and Johnson were last seen together there, shortly after Christmas, and because Johnson had initially told the boy's father that she had killed him and thrown his body in the trash.

She later recanted the story.

Police and prosecutors believe that Smith, 37, provided Johnson with adoption advice and contacts for a place to stay after she fled with Gabriel. And the forgery charge comes from an allegation that she falsified documents as to who isthe child's father.

Smith had no comment as she left the courtroom Thursday, but her attorney Amy Nguyen, said that they do not know why Smith has been charged.

"We know it has nothing to do with the disappearance of baby Gabriel," Nguyen said. "It's all speculation at this point. We haven't been given any information by the state."

Nguyen said that Smith was "anxious to get it behind her."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/02/18/20100218missing-baby-gabriel-not-guilty-plea0218.html

Oh, puuulease! No idea why she's been charged? "We know it has nothing to do with the disappearance of baby Gabriel"? Try again lady. It has EVERYTHING to do with baby Gabriel's disappearance. If baby Gabriel was here in AZ with his father right now, they never would've been digging and probably never discovered the crimes they now know she committed--forgery and custodial interference.

Withpurpose wrote:

Oh, puuulease! No idea why she's been charged? "We know it has nothing to do with the disappearance of baby Gabriel"? Try again lady. It has EVERYTHING to do with baby Gabriel's disappearance. If baby Gabriel was here in AZ with his father right now, they never would've been digging and probably never discovered the crimes they now know she committed--forgery and custodial interference. [/quote]

You are so right! Ofcourse they know! People like this think they can go on twisting the truth forever and not get held to account.

TerryRose wrote::You are so right! Ofcourse they know! People like this think they can go on twisting the truth forever and not get held to account.

It's bad enough that we have so many people in this country that apparently lack morals and values, but the ones that defend them and try to twist the truth and down right lie really disgust me. Not that any excuse justifies what these criminals do, but come on, really, what is the excuse of those that defend them (I want publicity and money syndrome)? We know darn well that TS's attorney doesn't believe the words spilling from her mouth. Some people just lack a conscience altogether.

Others think, "If Mom or hubby believes me--the whole world will believe me!"

A Scottsdale woman implicated in a missing baby case has pleaded not guilty to felony counts of forgery and conspiracy to commit custodial interference.
Maricopa County prosecutors say 37-year-old Tammi Smith entered her pleas Thursday after being indicted earlier this month. She remains free on $15,000 bond.
Police in suburban Tempe arrested Smith on Feb. 2 on suspicion of trying to pressure the father of 9-month-old Gabriel Johnson into signing over his parental rights so she and her husband could adopt the baby. Smith was released from jail the next day and has denied any involvement in the baby's disappearance.
Meanwhile, police in San Antonio are searching a landfill for the baby's body. The boy's 23-year-old mother told Tempe police that she drove with the baby to San Antonio in late December, stayed about a week, then took a bus to Florida without him. Elizabeth Johnson remains jailed in Phoenix and has refused to talk to investigators about what happened to her baby.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6873921.html

After removing 30 feet and nearly 45 thousand tons of debris from a nearby landfill, San Antonio police are ready to begin phase two of their search for baby Gabriel Johnson.
A total of 35 workers will comb through the next layer of waste by hand and use cadaver dogs to see if Johnson's original confession is true. She initially told her former boyfriend that she killed Gabriel, put him in a diaper bag, and threw his body in the trash.

http://www.kpho.com/news/22597349/detail.html

I suspect TS pushed EJ to the brink of what ever happened to Gabriel. But I still hold EJ totally responsible for what she did to Gabriel.

If she really has an expensive ring, then its quite possible this child is really alive - but doubtful
after all this time, that whomever had him is going to speak up. Bad news for EJ -because I think they are going to try to charge her with a homicide.

If they can find no proof of a homicide, maybe they will stick with the original charges and she will do the time for those.

A ruby ring, My father is a jeweler who specializes in gem stones and diamonds. Most rubies today are lab created so I highly doubt that the ring the EJ was wearing is worth $20,000 dollars. However if she indeed has a ruby ring that is worth $20,000 it would have to be a considerable size with excellent characteristic no flaws. So unless she sold this baby a couple who has that type money to buy that of jewels, then they must have the money so why didn't they pay her cash which is untraceable. It is unlikily that she would be able to sell the ring for what it is worth in today economy. Besides if she really wanted to sell that baby you can bet she wanted cash not jewelry. I still believe that she killed baby Gabriel and it breaks my heart. It would be nice to be proven wrong and they find him alive. Another point is that if this couple really exist and have that kind of money then, they know what kind of trouble their in if they are found with that baby. Especially with the kind of media attention this case has gotten. So I think that this is just another means of the father holding on to hope that he is alive. Who could blame him, he loves his son. Hope is better then the alternative. I check everyday 2 and 3 times a day to see if their is any news on this baby, because I can't get him out of my mind....

angeleyes, I think we all feel the same way---he is so darling in those pictures we see that most of us motherly types just want to reach out and hold him.

Thanks for the lowdown on rubies. I think it was written somewhere that there were also diamonds in the ring? The value of gold right now is very high as well. I wonder if it is an heirloom from her mother or grandmother or someone in her past family. Just because her ex never saw it doesn't mean she didn't always have it and treasure it. It has been said that they use expensive jewelry as a payoff in underground adoptions---I don't get it, but there must be a reason. I know that, if you withdraw $10,000 or more from a bank account, the government is notified because of the Patriot Act following 9-11. Maybe that is why they use jewelry that can be pawned.

THIS IS NOT THE RING. This isn't the ring EJ was arrested with. The ring shown is an example only.
I got bored looking at gaudy jewelry but this one will give you an idea about what we're talking about


Estate Ruby and Diamond Ring
$17500.00
Estate Ruby and Diamond Ring Inventory No. 30-2-813 Fabulous 3.50 carat oval ruby bezel set and lit by a channel set tapered baguette cut diamond border and channel set baguette cut shoulders featuring 4.00 carats of diamonds (G-I color, VS clarity), crafted in 18K yellow gold. Inventory No. 30-2-813 Details Center Ruby Details 3.50cts 9.50 x 8.00 x 4.70 mm 78 Tapered Baguette Diamond(s) with a total carat weight of 4.00 Diamond Color: G-I 4.00 Carats
Lang

OMG that is absolutely gorgeous! My Dad designed one for the governor except hers was 6 carats and set in platinum. Well you know I have been following this case since the beginning and I even pulled up some old case files that I used for my profiling class last year and I also compare the psychological profile to the case file as well. EJ fit the profile of a person who could committ this kinda of crime. She has a history of violence and is very controling. she didn't want this child and wanted to give him away, but can't because the father wants the child and won't give up his rights. So their set the groundwork. She dosn't want him to have the baby. so now she will do whatever it takes to make sure that he doesn't have him. That is a control issue for her, and she takes pride in the fact logan will never see his baby again. So there is no remorse on her end which shows malice. Although you are correct in the patriot act, I know that most people who are in the wealth so to speak also keep alot money in safes in their homes, not always under uncle sam. So believe me when I say if they need the cash they will find it. I mean seriously if she was indeed given a ring of such statue the police can track down the jeweler who created it by looking at the crest engraved on fine jewelry especially something worth 20,000 or more. The police have never mention the ring in the any of the interviews they have given. Which is kinda of odd. But they do have more evidence that has not been released to the press which is what leads them to think that Gabriel has met with foul play at the hand of his mother. As much as I hate to say this but I really believe that EJ is actally joying this. I truly hope that they find him soon because either wahy hi father is gonna need closure. Oh by the way forgive me if I get to condesending, It is that these kind of cases really get to me.

I wonder if LE let the grandfather take the ring. I don't understand why they wouldn't have kept it as potential evidence--especially since it was in her pocket rather than her wearing it. I'm probably wrong, but my feeling is she got that ring from TS.

Baby Gabriel's Dad: Someone Has My Son
Donna Rossi
Reporter, KPHO.com

POSTED: 7:07 pm MST February 18, 2010
UPDATED: 7:00 am MST February 19, 2010

PHOENIX -- Despite a meticulous search under way in a Texas landfill, Logan McQueary plans a return trip to San Antonio to find his son. McQueary said he believes his son, Gabriel Johnson, is alive.

"I think he's with a couple that Elizabeth handed him off too. And we're going to find who it is," said McQueary.

Baby Gabriel was last seen with his mom, Elizabeth Johnson, in San Antonio the day after Christmas. A few days later, Johnson was arrested in Florida on charges of kidnapping and custodial interference. Gabriel was nowhere to be found.

Johnson originally told McQueary she had killed the baby and put him in the trash. She later changed her story and said she gave the baby away.

Investigating the original claim, San Antonio police identified a section of the Tessman Road Landfill where they might find evidence in the case. They excavated 30 feet and nearly 45 thousand tons of debris from a section of the landfill and today started phase two of their search.

A total of 35 workers will comb through the next layer of waste by hand and use cadaver dogs to support them.

"The dogs are trained to detect the scent of human decomposition and alert their handlers when they have located that so the dogs are searching for the odor of human decomposition," said Christy Bormann of the Alamo Search and Rescue team.

McQueary said he's not concerned with the landfill search.

"It doesn't matter to me. I think it needs to be just done and over with and that's what they're doing. The sooner the better it gets done with because I don't think Gabriel is there at all," said McQueary.

McQueary believes Johnson gave the baby away and whoever has him is scared to come forward because of all the media attention.

"They might be afraid that they're going to get in trouble. The truth is they're not. We're not looking for anybody to get in trouble, right now. All we want is for Gabriel to be returned. I want my son back," said McQueary.

McQueary is hoping money may bring someone forward with information about his son's whereabouts.

A fundraiser is set for this weekend to raise money to increase the reward for missing baby Gabriel. This event will run Friday, Feb. 19, through Sunday, Feb. 21, at Manny’s Mexican Restaurant. New and upcoming performer “Chavo” will be performing his new singles, "El Presidente" and "Yo Quero Nada" mixing it up with his smooth beat.

http://www.kpho.com/news/22606939/detail.html?treets=pho&tid=26511763111813&tml=pho_7am&tmi=pho_7am_1_08000102192010&ts=H

I once was friends with a detectives wife. She had beautiful jewelry. Antique and new. Diamonds.

I always wondered how they were able to afford those beautiful gems.

Personally I think things go missing..get lost in the police station.

I think if Gabriel is in an underground baby thingy the ones that got that beautiful baby will not do the right thing and turn him in. They have probably fallen in love with him and will run and hide with him til the end.

Who can give up a baby?

by jeanne1807 Today at 10:10 am
Personally I think things go missing..get lost in the police station.

Years ago someone I knew changed their mind about having a loved one buried with a piece of jewelry just before a closed casket funeral. She told the funeral director that she wanted the casket opened so she could remove it. Surprise, surprise, the loved one wasn't wearing the jewelry! It was in the funeral director's office and was explained away as "a mistake". :mad:

jeanne1807 wrote:I think if Gabriel is in an underground baby thingy the ones that got that beautiful baby will not do the right thing and turn him in. They have probably fallen in love with him and will run and hide with him til the end.

Who can give up a baby?

I agree

WithPurpose wrote:I wonder if LE let the grandfather take the ring. I don't understand why they wouldn't have kept it as potential evidence--especially since it was in her pocket rather than her wearing it. I'm probably wrong, but my feeling is she got that ring from TS.

You make a very good point in that, if LE thought this ring to be a payment for the child, they would certainly keep it as evidence.

What if ..... Gabriel and family were in the news too frequently and scared off the adoptive family? Would this make room for another underground, child pedophilia? These people would never return him. I just have to believe that if he were with a regular family, they would've admitted this a while ago. Where do the professional child pornographers get their kids? Tsunamis? Earthquakes? Kidnapping?

Also, perhaps the detectives that LM hired were the GPS thieves. Logan may have been asking bold questions in the area that the detectives were working.

Custodial Interference and Parental Alienation in AZ

February 19, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Custodial Interference and Parental Alienation in AZ

Police arrested a woman in connection with a child abduction case even though she is not a suspect in the child's disappearance.

Instead, Tammi Smith of Scottsdale, Ariz., faces custodial interference charges for her lengthy and repeated pressure to adopt the 8-month-old baby. The legally and emotionally complex world of adoption and parental custody is further complicated by custodial interference and parental alienation.

Courts grant various levels of custody to birth parents, adoptive parents and guardians. Physical custody means the child lives with the custodian at least part of the time, who is responsible for the child's well-being. Legal custody allows rights to decide on schooling, religion and other major factors in a child's life. It may or may not coincide with physical custody. Both types of custody also can be split in joint custody cases.

Parents or other individuals can be charged with custodial interference if they refuse to return a child to the custodian after visitation or otherwise try to deny the right to established custody.

Custodial interference laws vary widely between states. Under Arizona state law, a person who is not the parent or legal custodian can face a Class 3 felony for keeping a child from their legal custodian. This may bring a sentence of up to 8.75 years in prison.

Smith had brief guardianship over Gabriel Johnson, the 8-month-old baby she wants to adopt. After this 10-day period, she allegedly bullied Gabriel's father, forged court documents and tried to have the custody case moved to Tennessee, where the laws might be more favorable to her adoption case. These extreme measures led to a charge of conspiracy to commit custodial interference. A second charge of custodial interference was dropped.

The more common type of custodial interference is one parent keeping the child away from another parent in a joint custody situation. Under Arizona state law, this type of custodial interference is a Class 6 felony, bringing sentences ranging from probation to years in prison.

In such cases, judges may also take parental alienation syndrome (PAS) into consideration. Parental alienation is when one parent repeatedly criticizes and disparages the other parent in an attempt to alienate the child from the other parent. Often the result is that the child no longer wants to have contact with the alienated parent. The degree of parental alienation may differ in severity (mild, moderate, severe) based on the circumstances, and the effects may vary ranging from the child acting out when in the alienated parents care to permanent damage to the parent/child relationship.

Due to the harmful nature of PAS, and custodial interference, it is important to speak to a family law attorney in your area if you believe your child may be a victim. A lawyer can provide more information on warning signs to look for in your child, assess the circumstances of your case and answer your questions regarding your legal rights and options

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/custodial-interference-and-parental-alienation-in-az-137966.php