Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - INFANT GIRL, VANESSA, DISAPPEARS NEW HAVEN, MOM FOUND DEAD

Episode Date: July 10, 2026

In 2019, Christine Holloway, 43, was found dead in her bathtub, beaten. Her 14‑month‑old daughter, Vanessa Morales, vanished.   Police arrested Jose Morales, 48, Vanessa's father, for the murder. He testified two intruders broke into the apartment, one of them attacked Holloway with a crowbar, and then took the child.  Morales claimed he was high on PCP, unable to stop the attack.  Prosecutors alleged Morales struck Holloway repeatedly with a blunt object. He then cleaned the scene for 37 hours,  disposing of the blood‑soaked evidence. Morales was convicted in April last year of murder and evidence tampering, sentenced  to 65 years in prison.    The child, Vanessa, was last seen two days before her mother's death. An Amber Alert was issued, but  she is still missing.   Anyone with information on Vanessa’s disappearance is urged to contact the police department at 203-7351885 Joining Nancy Grace today: Jodi Jacobellis -Aunt of Vanessa Morales' and sister-in-law of Christine Holloway - who was murdered Anna Rodonski  - Great Aunt of Vanessa Morales and Aunt of Christine Holloway - who was murdered  Mike Gould  - Former Nassau County (NY) lieutenant and Founding member of the New York Police Department (NYPD) K-9 unit.  Former National Guardsman and has worked on secret service detail for two presidents  Rachel Toles  - Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, Author of upcoming book  “Inventing the Psychopath: How a Convenient Myth Makes the World More Dangerous,” website: DrRachelToles.com, Instagram / YouTube: TolzHaus, Facebook: DrRachelToles  Marissa Alter  - Lead Reporter, News 12 Connecticut, www.news12.com, Facebook: @MarissaAlterReporter, Instagram: @marissaalternews X: @MarissaAlter  Dave Mack  -  Investigative Reporter, 'Crime Stories'   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Bombshell tonight, a precious little infant girl, Vanessa, just 14 months old, disappears out of Tony New Haven, Connecticut. Her mother found dead. Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you. Thank you for being with us. that she talked to you today and that you said you saw her leave this morning.

I'm not being pregnant in the morning because it's what it's going to work. Who is she with when she went to work? Is that your baby as well? Yes. Okay. What is she drive? 2002 miles of protege. What color is it?

Gold. Mom is found dead. But where is the baby? Let's see a photo of baby Vanessa. Do you know how many millions of people would pay $60,000, $100,000 or more to get a baby like this? Where is Vanessa? You were just hearing the 911 call joining us, an all-star panel. But before we go to reporters and experts, I want to go to two very special.

special guests joining us tonight, Jody and Anna. Jody Jacobella, the aunt of Vanessa Morales, and Anna Radonski, also an aunt of Vanessa Morales. Ladies, thank you for being with us, and I want to apologize up front for making you relive the worst memories of your life, the worst thing that has ever happened, the murder of baby Vanessa's mother, and the disappearance of a tiny baby, who many, including me, and law enforcement, believe is still alive and out there.

Does she even know what has happened? Straight to you, Jody, how did you first learn about the murder? of Vanessa's mom and that the baby's gone. That Monday, I was home from work because the Sunday prior was my birthday. And my soon-to-be husband called me and said, we got a call from his mother that his sister didn't show up from work. So we lived five minutes away, and I said, I'll go over there. I pulled up and didn't see her car, but it had just snowed. So there was footsteps going to her door.

So I took a picture and I'm like, then I sent it to him. I'm like, somebody was here. I'll try knocking and I banged on the door. There was nothing. I tried to listen for Vanessa crying, anything, any kind of distress, nothing. I proceeded to go back home and I called my soon-to-be husband and told him what was going going on. He came home. We picked me up. We went back there. Then I ended up Googling Vanessa's father's mother's address in New Haven. We went over there. His stepfather answered the door.

And Vanessa's father came to the door and I asked him a few questions. You know, when did you last time see them? He was like, oh, this morning they left for work and, you know, I went to work. And I said, okay, have you told you? talk to her and no I tried to call her but it's going to voice and one I said well that's kind of funny because she has to call you while she's driving anywhere and I said you know if you hear from them hear from her give me a call and I gave him my cell phone number I said better yet call me from your number so I have it and once he did that I ran back to the car and I started calling all the area hospitals

just in case she was in a car accident and nobody knew who she was And at that time, he had walked up to the car, which is Vanessa's father, and, you know, acted like nothing. It was like, hey, what's up, guys? You know, she's shooting the breeze. And I'm like, there's something seriously wrong here. With that, I asked him about the car, the make and the model. He told him Mazda Prodigy, 2004, Gold. With that, we left as we're driving.

I wrote a note to Chrissy. so we could put on her door to call me her brother or her mother as soon as possible. It's an emergency. And with that, I called Ansonia PD, said, can you meet me at six and a half in Sonia? Six and a half Myrtle Lab Antonia. And they said, well, can you come down to the station? I thought that was pretty odd. So we went.

And at the minute I got there, they're like, oh, we did a wellness check there today. We didn't know about this. we were never informed. And I said, you know, and they're like, well, she's just a runaway. No, she's not. She's a 40-something-year-old woman with a one-year-old. This is not like her. And I was arguing with the officer, fighting with him.

Wait, they referred to Vanessa's mother, Christine Holloway, as a runaway? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Go ahead. And another officer came out, like, as if I was Trump. him for assistance. And I gave him all the information we had. I gave him Vanessa's father's phone number.

He went in the back, did his thing with the phone call, came back, and I noticed his attitude changed. Now I know something was seriously wrong. Much of what you're saying, Jody, Jacob Ellis, this is baby Vanessa's aunt, is confirmed. And what we're learning from that 911 call, listen. Hello? Hello, Jose.

Yeah. How you doing? This is Officer Smith for Vance on your police. All right. Hey, I am a girl here that's saying that she's the sister of Christina Holloway. All right. Is that Christina your girlfriend? Yeah.

Okay. She's saying that she couldn't contact her all day today. She said that she talked to you today and that you said you saw her leave this morning. I'm not surprised in the morning because of what it works. Is somebody? Who is saying? Who is she with when she left? Who is that your baby as well?

Yes. Okay, what is she drive? Um, 2002, 2002 miles of protege. What color is it? It's gold. Gold? Yeah. Okay.

Do you have, did you talk to them at all today? Uh-huh. Your, uh, Christina or your daughter? I already first in the morning, for sure it's the word. sure it's the work. What time did you talk? Um, six, seven, I could have four minutes gone. Six or seven?

Yeah. You've got Jody, Jacobelis, and Anna Rodonski, out of their minds worried, so they get police to the home. And I want you to see and hear what happened. I'm going to give you a quick break down. I have a earlier today, we had a, uh, a person tech, please, just, just, you know, just, technically just trying to make contact with that number six and a half brutal half they came out they said no car was in the driveway no car was here and then none yeah but there's no mail mailbox i don't think there's no

yep nobody's no but we can't we can't find they're back here like listen she's a mother of one year old she's always showed up for work she always contacts us. We don't see, we haven't heard from her. This is really, really bad, we have a bad feeling. Uh, we just get to the house now. There's a couple of windows open on the second floor, which is really odd, because obviously it's freezing out. I had him do a neighborhood canvas, one of the neighbors said, hey, I saw him. I saw him drive her car out of here this afternoon. I can't get into the house. I'm going to kick in the door in the minute. Straight out to Anna Radonski joining us, also a relative of the mom found dead and the baby missing, baby Vanessa.

What did it mean, Anna, that there's no mail in the mailbox? Why was that critical? Because there's two comments made. And at a time when you're trying to find somebody missing, including a baby, for someone to comment, there's no mail in the mailbox. That means something. and they're saying we have a really bad feeling. In my experience, Ms. Radonski, victims and their families somehow have a sense of foreboding.

They know, they know here and here before they've been told. Tell me about the mail and what brought about that feeling of foreboding. Yeah, so I am Chrissy's, aunt and I lived in the house with her when she grew up so we're really really close and when Jody and Stephen called me because I was living in Nashville at the time and when they called me to tell me that there was something going on and that Krista didn't go to work and Chrissy and Vanessa are like two peas in a pod they're always together she always goes to work you know then I said you need to call the police you need to just go there like something's

wrong bust the door down get in there Because this was like, you know, Chrissy was very regimented, you know, taking care of her daughter, going to work, coming home, making dinner and everything, bath time. So we knew something, something that was really not good. Hey, I'm Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, Encore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music

from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak. Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the songs that brought Shane and Eel. together. I'll tell you the stories of Fice, My Moon, My Man, Wolf for raids, I'll believe in anything, and tattoos all the things she said, and how they all became a part of this global phenomenon. Stream encore on IHeart Radio, crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining us in All-Star Panel in addition to Jody, Jacob Ellis, and Anna Rodonski,

leading the search for baby Vanessa tonight. Mike Gould is with us, former Nassau County, that's New York, Lieutenant, founding member of the New York NYPD K-9 Unit, former National Guardsman, worked on Secret Service of detail for not one, but two presidents. You know, a lot of especially talking heads, not you, that have never tried a case or never investigated a case. They get on Aaron Pontificate.

It's very irritated. they discount witnesses and victims, victims, families, feelings of foreboding. If somebody told me that my son or daughter did not make it to work this morning, they've got summer jobs, I would know something was very wrong. They never missed school or work. Or my husband, if he didn't come home when I think he's going to come home, I would just go straight ahead and call 911 because it's like clockwork, the three of them. So you cannot discount a feeling of foreboding.

So yeah, families are intimately familiar with their family members' behaviors. Law enforcement is not. So the sentences sometimes be insensitive and dismiss things that they shouldn't be dismissing. So, of course, it's more than just a gut feeling or foreboding. It's a pattern of their behavior that they know is not part of this case. So they have to be taken extremely, extremely serious. And law enforcement has to take that, of course, into account. Let's go back to that police body cam and see what we can learn.

Police bomb in. It's fine, please. Police parliament. What? Holy shit. Clear the rope. Clear the house. Don't want to need your hair.

In a bed, search, please. Under the bed. No kid. No kid. Oh, my stars. I'm my stars. We're hearing right there. Marissa Alter with us.

Lead investigative reporter News 12 there in Connecticut. Marissa, thank you for being with us. We hear on the body cam. Holy. I got a dead body in here. Holy. Okay, okay. Back out, back out.

Clear the room. Clear the room. Look under the bed. Look under the bed. There is no kid, no kid. They're realizing baby Vanessa is gone. We're showing you photos right now of the home where baby Vanessa disappeared. No trace of a 14-month-old baby girl.

Marissa, the body they found is baby Vanessa's mother, right? Yes, Nancy. Christine Holloway is found in her bathtub. slumped over naked, and she has been bludgeon. She has been hit by an object which investigators later believe is a hammer at least eight times dead in the bathtub and there is no sign of her 14-month-old daughter, Vanessa. At that point, Marissa, what did police do to find baby Vanessa? Well, they got the word out to the media.

There was an Amber Alert put out. and they began searching for her. One of the things they did tell us was that they noticed that some of baby Vanessa's items were missing, such as her polka dot blanket, a Greco car seat, an Eddie Bauer backpack, diaper backpack, and a teething ring. And these were all things that they later said, look, these are items that someone would need to take to be able to take care of Vanessa. So that led them to believe that whoever took this child was taking her to care for her somewhere else. Straight out to Jody, Jacob Ellis, and Anna Radonski. It's just too much to take in.

When I travel with the twins as infants, my children, John David and Lucy, I had to carry a slew of items no matter where we went. The baby seat, the pull-ups, the diapies, the baby rings. Jody Jacobelis, as you are hearing this, what is going through your mind? We'll take anything. Just back to that night, December 2nd. Because when they did gain entry in the house, we heard on the radio while we were in the lobby. We're gaining entry.

And then I hear, we need you here. And then the radio went down. just I was just bringing back horrible memories I'm sorry Jody Jody I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I felt this way every time I put up

Victim's family member on the stand because it's tortuous and it just it can mess you up for days to come Anna Radonski when you learn that police come in to find mom, dead, baby gone. What went through your mind?

And now you're hearing missing the baby seat, diapies, the baby ring, other things that would be required to take care of the baby, somebody that knew the baby that cared about the baby, took the baby. Yeah, when Stephen and Jody call me, you know, tell me. Like I said, I was in Nashville, you know, and I packed my suitcase. I just started running around my apartment and packing my suitcase. And I remember just packing like outfits for a funeral and outfits, warm clothes to go looking in the woods to find Vanessa. Like I was like, we're going to be part of a search team.

We're going to find her. So let me just bring everything and anything. And then I got into plane the next morning to come back to Connecticut. Back to Jody, Jacob Ellis, also joining us along with Anna. Jody, what happened next? When the officer, once we heard on the radio, you know, we need you here. That's when my soon-to-be husband took off with his brother who had just come in from Long Island. because we told them what was going on and his best friend they left and went to

Chrissy's house I stayed back with my sister-in-law and about five minutes later my sister-in-law gets a phone call from the friend and said they're taping up the house and she turned to me and she said it and I just collapsed in the lobby and screaming no no no no no no no no And with that, I ran out of the police station to go to the house. And they said, no, just stay at the police station. So I went back. And that's when my fiance, Stephen, his brother, Brian, and their friend, Hector, came back. And then a detective came out and pulled the three boys out in the back.

And then my... brother-in-law Brian came out and his friend and said they want to speak with you and I said me why what's going on and then the two detectives came back and got me sat me in a little room with my fiance Stephen asked me all these questions and I told them everything from the moment I got the phone call from Stephen to up until we got to the police station they left the room and my fiance looked at me and he's like she's gone I said step saying that we were going back and forth arguing. I'm like, stop.

And he grabbed my hands, looked me dead in my eyes, and said, she's gone. And I was like, no. I didn't want to believe it. They pulled everybody back in from the lobby and proceeded to tell us that they found a female deceased.

I remember just running out of the room screaming. And then I got myself together because then I realized, wait, they said, Chrissy, where's the baby? I went back to the room. I looked at both the detectives and I said, where's the baby? They said, what are you talking about? I said her daughter, our niece, who's one years old, Vanessa, where is she? She should have been there.

And the two detectives looked at each other and said, well, we don't know. No, we weren't on the scene, so we don't know anything. And I said, well, you need to find her. And after that, we left and proceeded to go to my mother-in-law's house to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to tell her that her oldest daughter is gone. And her granddaughter is missing. Nobody should ever have to tell a family member that at all. It was the worst night of my life.

We are looking for the following items which are listed on this poster board to my far left. These are items that Christine Holloway used and taken care of Vanessa, and we have been able to locate them. We believe that Vanessa is alive. We have no information to the contrary to that point. When you see things like that are missing, that would be used to care for a child. That gives us the impetus that she is still out there and she's with someone and we want to bring her home safely. We've had a lot of tips about car seats and different things like that. you know, we've run all those out and they've never come out to what we had hoped for. The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward to any individual who provides information that directly leads to the recovery of the missing child Vanessa Morales, date of birth, September 7, 2018.

The reward will be given to anyone in the community that has Vanessa in their possession and returns her unharmed or who has specific information where Vanessa is located that leads to her recovery. from our friends at WFSB3 and Fox 61. Listen, and you're there. For heart-wrenching knockouts. Breath-taking triumph. 2026 FIFA World Cup. The knockout stage. Every match, every moment.

Listen on TSN Radio. Join the globe. On the road to the July 19th final. 2026 FIFA World Cup. Stream it all. Live on TSN Radio. Available on I Heart Radio. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Straight out to Rachel Tolls, clinical forensic psychologist, author of a brand new book, Inventing The Psychopath, You can find her at Dr. Rachel Tolls.com. Dr. Tolls, it seems to me that unless this is

disconnected, unrelated, murder of a mom and kidnap of a baby, which is highly, highly unlikely. This is from someone connected to the mom or the baby. Someone that knows them intimately, knows their schedules, and has a desire to take that baby. Why? Yeah, so we don't have a body. We don't have the baby's diaper bag.

We don't have the blankie, that probably the baby's favorite blankie and the car seat. So we've got the body of the mother, and then we have these items that show that the person who took the baby clearly wants to either care for the baby or keep the baby alive. So that's definitely what we see just from the evidence that's there at the crime scene. To Anna Rodotsky is Christine's aunt. Christine, of course, is the mother of baby Vanessa.

did you immediately have a suspicion? Absolutely, yes. Immediately. And what was it? I mean, we immediately knew that everything was out of the norm, and we knew that Jose was involved in it, and we were grateful that none of Vanessa's DNA was found at the scene, and that there's hope and we hope that he gave her someone and we hope that we find her and that she's safe

it all began unraveling because of phone records listen can you uh would you would you uh show me the phone call that you be taking us on Monday morning on your phone please Yeah. So you called her at 6.59 p.m.? Monday? I mean... Monday. I keep trying to call, right?

Yeah, but there's no call. There's no call. It goes to poison, though. Yeah, but it should still show that you dialed it, right? Did you erase stuff? I always delete all my... I pretty much delete it. I'll delete all my calls over time. You didn't delete D-7, though.

I don't know. I didn't even a very diet, you know. You do what you want to know. Well, he's lying because there were all these calls on there that he didn't delete. Plus, who has time to go through and delete every phone call they make? Do you see that happening? Mike Gould, you're the former NYPD. Whatever they say, so you said you called her, right? Well, there's not a record. He goes, what? Oh, yeah. I tried, but it went to voicemail.

Well, that still would have shown up on a call log. Then he goes, yeah, okay, yeah, you're right. I deleted. Everything you say he's got to fallback for it. He's already tangled up in just the phone records. He can't even get the phone call straight. Yeah, Nancy, there's no doubt the jury has spoken. Jose is guilty as sin in the murder of his wife.

However, there is no blood evidence. There is zero evidence that the baby is deceased at this point, which gives me great optimism here. There's several factors that I think about. Number one, it's relatively, it's easier to abduct an infant than it is a 10 or 12-year-old child because they lack mobility. They're relatively easy to care for. So that's a big thing for me.

The lack of the evidence that wasn't recovered that you need to take care of a child. So I'm optimistic that this child is a lot. The question is by whom? So did one of his associates sell the baby for money? Was it a relative? Was it a friend? Somebody knows where this child is, Nancy. And frankly, the only way this is going to come to fruition is shows like yours that keep this in the public spotlight. So I'm very optimistic here. Jose, did you tell your parents where you went on Friday? Yeah. When you're telling me what?

Yeah. Listen. Yeah. Listen. Yeah. Listen well. Your dad said you went to Christine's. Friday with her. Why would he tell me that? He said that I went to Christine's Friday. That's why he thought I was. Why would you, you said you told him where you went? And if you told him you went to Hector, she got her old car. Right. But why would he tell me that you went to Christine's if you told him where you went? Why would he tell? He probably assumed. No, you said you told him where you went. First of all, he lies about the phone call, which is very easily disproven. Then he's tangled up at what he told his own family.

He told his dad he was going to Christine's. She's dead. The baby's missing. And he's saying, well, I never said that. Where did my dad get that idea? But that's not all. Idiot. Listen.

You realize that somebody saw you leaving Christine's house today. How was that? It's on toward who. Jose, you want to find the kids. Today? Well, not Tuesday, Monday. Listen, you want to find your daughter? Okay.

Let's find her. Now we're gonna find her. You're at the house Monday, leaving. Where's your daughter? Listen, you know why we want your clothes. You know it. This clothes? Yeah. Or is there other clothes that we want?

I don't know. Oh, oh, you want this clothes? clothes all right take it you're gonna take me home we're you're going home yes you're going home we are taking your clothes and then we're getting in the car and we're driving you back all the way home so hot and I might all right all right wait one second we're getting some bags and some stuff oh this is crazy so you understood what I told you right that somebody saw you leaving the house today Monday yes you understand that

Technical legal term, dumbass. Jody, Anna, did he always act like that? What clothes? Oh, these clothes? Which makes me think he committed the murder in other clothes. I mean, what is he saying, Jody? You can tell he has a mind of a two-year-old. Whenever I would see him, because Chrissy used to live with.

me and her brother. And when he would come to the house, he was always drunk. And my stepson would be like, didn't you see the wall there? And I'm like, yeah, you know, you probably tripped. I would make up excuses because my stepson was six years old at the time. And I didn't want him to think, you know, he's drinking and driving. But you can tell he's not educated. You know, he thinks he knows it all, but he really isn't. He doesn't. Okay, what can we learn from his family? We just shine the light on our situation and we're working.

investigating us, so I'll let you know this, it's a homicide. Anna Radonski, who do you believe has baby Vanessa? I have no idea. I mean, I hope that he gave her to someone that just really wanted a baby, and she is. taking care of. I don't know. I think our family just is like, you know,

so much time has gone on and we're, we've given every opportunity for him to just tell the truth, just stop the like ongoing pain to our family and just let us know, you know. But we have nothing, we have no idea. So I still walk around to beaches, and pediatrician offices and libraries, and I'm still passing out pictures of Vanessa

because we really believe we're gonna find her someday. We the family would like to ask for everyone in our communities and beyond us to help bring maybe Vanessa home safely. We still have Vanessa's first Christmas breakfast. We can't let go of it. And I know she'll be too old before. She comes back to play with it, but... That's the last thing we have of her.

Nothing will bring them back. And that hurts the most that we have to stand here today and basically be treated like we're nothing. Like she and Vanessa were nothing. We're just frustrated in the fact that he was able to turn around to see his family members. We can't turn around to see ours. We have to go visit their gravesite.

That's our anger. That from WFSB-3, Fox 61, and NBC, to Marissa Alter, joining us lead investigative reporter, News 12, Connecticut, who has been on this case fighting for answers in the disappearance of baby Vanessa. Where does the case stand now, Marissa? Well, right now, police say that the search. for Vanessa is ongoing. The hope had been that with the trial, the murder trial of Jose Morales for Christine Holloway's murder, that that might lead to more publicity and then more

answers, new information that could come out and give the family and police some idea of where she might be. But as of right now, police have not released any new information that might give us an idea of where she is. To Mike Gould, former NYPD, Mike, the age progression photo is very, typically very accurate and a reward of $10,000 is still in place.

Any hope? Yeah, Nancy, completely. A couple of things that keep me optimistic here. You know, Jose might be the biggest dirtbag on earth and have the mentality of a two-year-old and as you described them as a dumbass quite accurately. However, there's a big delta between killing your wife and killing your child. So philocyte is relatively uncommon compared to murders of a spouse.

So I keep that. Again, the lack of blood evidence. There's no evidence to suggest that this little girl has been deceased. So this keeps me optimistic as the girl matures, the likelihood of her recovery is better. we've had cases, J.C. Dugard, Elizabeth Smart. So these things aren't out of the realm of possibility. Rachel Tolls joining us forensic psychologist, way in, Rachel. Yeah, I mean, I also have hope that she's still alive. Ideally, what we do know is that I think Christina's cell phone pinged because he had a very short period of time between when he was brought in for questioning and then detained. And so he had a very short period of time to do something with.

Vanessa if he actually did something with Vanessa and we know that her cell phone, the mother's cell phone pinged around where his family was, which suggests he did potentially pass her up to a family member. At least that's what some of the records show and that's the hope. To Jody Jacob Ellis, what is your message tonight? Just look at Vanessa's photo. If you see a child that resembles her. Please give us a call. I'm constantly checking my phone in the middle of the night, just in case I get a phone call from the FBI or the Ansonia PD. Just her eyes never change.

The age progression picture that there is now is a combination of her mother, Chrissy, and her father. If you know or think you know anything about the disappearance of baby Vanessa, please call 203-735-1885. Or the FBI now involved, 800-225-5-324. 800-2-25-5-3-24. We remember an American hero trooper Kevin Traynor,

Massachusetts State Police, just 30, killed in the line of duty after three years on the force, leaving behind. a devastated fiance, Jessica, American hero, Trooper, Kevin Trayner. Thank you to our guest joining us tonight, especially the relatives of the victims, but especially to you for being with us.

Nancy Grace, signing off for tonight, but I'll see you tomorrow night. And until then, good night. This is an I-Heart podcast, Guaranteed Human.