Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Virginia Gonzales Starves Daughter, Reverses Plead Deal Refusal, Learns Fate

Episode Date: February 28, 2026

Austin police respond to a home in Del Valle after receiving a 911 call about a 7-year-old girl who discovered starved and locked inside a bedroom closet. Six other children are also found in the home, but police say it appears they are physically healthy. According to reports, the child was soiled and barricaded in a closet with heavy boxes blocking the door. An arrest affidavit reveals Virginia Marie Gonzales is accused of locking the 7-year-old girl in a closet for “weeks at a time.” The affidavit further states the girl’s grandmother told police that the child had trouble controlling her bladder and often ate things she shouldn’t. This allegedly led to her siblings being instructed to keep her locked in the closet. The 7-year-old was hospitalized and is now recovering. During the investigation, detectives learn about another child, Ava, who has been missing for years. Virginia Marie Gonzales, Ava‘s mother, was arrested on a charge of serious injury to a child in connection with the 7-year-old’s case. According to police, the missing now 9-year-old child was last seen when she was just 2 years old and in the custody of her mother, Virginia Marie Gonzales. Now, Gonzales has reversed her initial rejection of a plea offer.   The State first offered Gonzales a 40-year prison sentence in exchange for her guilty plea.   Gonzales now pleads guilty getting 25 years in jail.    Joining Nancy Grace today: LeAnne Marie - Friend of Mom, Virginia Gonzales Bronwyn Blake - Adjunct Professor, University of Texas School of Law; Chief Legal Officer, Texas Advocacy Project; Founder: Teen Justice Initiative (advocating for teen victims of dating violence); Facebook and Instagram: @TexasAdvocacyProject Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist in Atlanta: Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital Daryl Parker - Private Investigator at Blackfish; Former Lieutenant in the Fannin County Sheriff's Office, Private Investigator at Blackfish Intelligence Former Marine, Former Texas Police Officer  worked with the Innocence Project of Texas for the last ten years); Instagram: @blackfishintel, FB – blackfishintelligence Virginia Bagby - Director of the ChildHelp National Child Abuse Hotline; Facebook and Instagram: @ChildHelp Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), Host of Podcast, "Mayhem in the Morgue," and Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University) Christina Aguayo - National News Anchor, Salem News Channel; Facebook: @ChristinaAguayoNews, Instagram: @Christina.AguayoNew See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Now here's a woman. Nobody will forget. I don't know if you're going to remember her name. Virginia Gonzalez. But you'll remember this.

The mom of multiple children, including a seven-year-old little girl, found locked in a dark, closet that was barricaded down to about 26 pounds, fed one corn dog a day. If that, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. On April 3rd, 2025, Austin Police Department responded to a 911 call for a seven-year-old child that was found locked in a closet and starving. The seven-year-old was immediately taken to a local hospital for medical treatment and is currently recovering. There were six other children found in the home that appeared physically healthy.

Police officers at an Austin apartment find a severely malnourished seven-year-old girl who is barricaded in a bedroom closet. The child has found soiled, weighing just 29 pounds, and has been confined to a three-foot-by-two-foot closet space for approximately a month. Investigators find the child has been given one corn dog and a half a cup of water a day. Doctors at Dell Children's Medical Center determined the little girl is, suffering moderate to severe cerebral atrophy from prolonged malnutrition, damage from which she will never recover. Virginia Gonzalez facing charges including injury to a child, inflicting serious injury, learns her fate in court.

The mother accused of locking her young daughter in a closet for weeks initially refused a plea deal, but now one has been reached. 33-year-old Virginia Gonzalez pleaded guilty to two charges of felony child injury. She receives a 25-year sentence on each count, which she will serve at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Facility in Huntsville. The counts will serve concurrently. Let me jog your memory about what happened. This closet was less than five feet by two feet, five by two. Five feet tall, two feet wide. There were other objects in there. What?

Other objects in there? No light, no ventilation. And it was barricaded by 75 pounds of boxes in front of it. Can you imagine the life that child had? In a closet, her living space about 3 by 1 foot 10 inches. 3 by 2. Let's be generous. No light, no ventilation, barricaded on the outside by 75 pound boxes in front of

front of it. The little girl was soiled, of course. She had teeteed and defecated. I said 26. It's 29 pounds. 29 pounds when she was rescued. She's already suffered moderate to severe cerebral atrophy. That's permanent brain damage due to prolonged nutrition. Quote, she will never recover, according to the state's affidavit. David. Now, the other six children in the home from two to 14 told Grandma, they were ordered to lock her in there because she had, quote, bladder control issues and was, quote, always getting into stuff and, quote, eating things she was not supposed to, what, like food? A 10-year-old brother told police, he was told he had to clean the closet because the little sister would have to

defecate and urinate in the closet. The little girl gets just a corn dog a day and a half a cup of water. How can a child survive day after day, week after week, month after month, locked in a dark closet living off nothing straight out to Christina, Oweyo, joining us, investigative reporter. Christina, this child locked in a closet. What happened? Well, according to the affidavit, when police, police got there when the caller called in for the welfare check and police got there they found a

seven-year-old little girl locked in a closet it was barricaded by 75 pounds of boxes they opened that door they found that child in there she was soiled surrounded by feces she was severely malnourished she had dark spots all over her body which is a sign of severe malnourishment they took her of course to the hospital where she weighed 29 pounds and medical personnel say that because of the prolonged starvation of that little girl that she will have permanent brain damage. Permanent brain damage caused by starvation. Joining me, Virginia Bagby, director of Child Help, National Child Abuse Hotline, Child Help. Virginia, thank you for being with us.

Many people don't know that starving a child can result in permanent brain damage. Have you ever seen anything like that? it before Virginia? We have definitely heard about cases like this and they happen all too often. Dr. Kendall Crown's Chief Medical Examiner, Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth, never a lack of business. He is the esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. I know that you heard this, but let me repeat it again. A seven-year-old little girl barricaded in a locked bedroom closet, a lot from the outside, soiled, a seven-year-old weighing just 29 pounds, confined to a three-by-two-foot closet. She has been given at most one corn dog and a half cup of water a day. She is now

suffering permanent, moderate to severe cerebral atrophy from prolonged malnutrition. The dock states she will never recover. Could you interpret that, please? Certainly. So she's not being given much food or water. I mean, a corn dog and a cup of water is not much for a child or anybody, for that matter. Her body is losing its, uh, depleting its muscle, depleting its fat stores. So she, her muscles are waging away. Her bones are starting to not form properly. And she's being starved. and part of being star results in your cardiac muscle or your heart muscle mass starting to also fade away or go away, which reduces your heart's ability to pump your blood, which results in your kidneys failing and you go into kidney failure. You also start having gut issues as well,

and this can all affect your brain and your brain's development, especially in a child. So all those factors combined will result in her having these issues that the doctors are describing. Dr. Kennel-Kowns, a child of seven years old should weigh around 70 pounds, 40, 45 to 70 pounds. Is that right? Yes. That would be about the average rate of a child at seven. A seven-year-old average, of course they grow at different weights. The average is 51 pounds for a seven-year-old child, but it ranges from four.

43 to 70. So where would you place 29 pounds in that spectrum? 29 pounds. If a 7-year-old can weigh up to 73, she's not even half the weight of a 7-year-old. Yeah. The weight you're describing is a severely malnourished child. So she's been starved for a prolonged period of time. How does that make a child brain damaged? It's from the body shutting down, the lack of food, the lack of loss of muscle mass, the heart muscle mass being lost, it's not circulating properly. The organs aren't getting enough oxygenated blood. And of course, the brain's part of this.

So the brain's not getting proper oxygenation. Also, the brain relies on glucose or sugars to grow and develop, and it's not getting that as well. So the brain is basically maldeveloped. not getting enough oxygen so you get brain damage. Dr. Crowns, isn't it true that a child weighing 29 pounds typically, and I'm basing this on charts and statistics that I prepared, it's typically a 22-month-old child at 29 pounds?

Yes, I would be correct. A seven-year-old little girl, Dr. Kendall Crowns, that should weigh 71 pounds, 51 to 70. pounds, weighs 29 pounds. With a child starving, what would she be enduring on the floor of that locked closet, Dr. Crowns? She would be enduring confusion, dehydration, or a very dry mouth, her throat would be dry. She'd have trouble swallowing. She'd be very tired and just not able to even move. And then you would add on to that the fact that without the food, she'd start hallucinating and then eventually just slip into a coma and finally die.

Dr. Kendall Crowns, would the child lose her hair? I know that she's losing all muscle tone. Would she be losing her hair? Would her faculties or hearing her sight? Would that be intact? And what would her brain function be lying on the floor of a dark closet, starving? So yes, hair often will fall out in individuals who are star. Her brain function would be very minimal. She'd be confused, even possibly hallucinating,

and just completely fatigued and not even feeling like moving. Is it true, Dr. Timber Krause, that when someone has been starred for a prolonged period of time, as in this case, when you give them food, they can't even eat it? Yes, you can, you can have what is called, if you give a person who's been starved, you feed them too quickly. You can have what is called refeating syndrome, where they actually will, from the food intake, it will cause so much of a shock to their body that they can die. Guys, when police show up to a home, they find six children and then a seventh locked in a closet, weighing just 29 pounds. But ironically, amazingly, listen to the condition of the other six children. Six other children in the apartment, ranging in age from two to 14 years old, are found to be an apparently good physical condition.

The apartment's pantry, refrigerator, and freezer are stocked with various food items. The oldest children were given strict orders to put the little girl in the closet because she had bladder control issues and she was trying to eat things she wasn't supposed to. During the investigation, police learned there's an eighth child, Ava Marie, who is not in the home with the other children. We've got one starved child who has permanent, brain damage, a seven-year-old little girl weighing 29 pounds locked in a closet. Now I've got a missing child, too, but to Dr. Angela Arnold joining me, renowned psychiatrist out of the Atlanta jurisdiction at angela Arnoldmd.com. Dr. Angie, thank you for being with us.

Did you hear what was just reported that there were six other children in the home seemingly healthy and they were encouraged to keep the little girl locked in a closet starving her because the little girl would eat things she wasn't supposed to eat. You know what, Dr. Angie, I've ever every excuse in the book about why parents starve the children. Oh, the child ate a candy bar. I'll starve it. The child eats too much. I'll starve it. The child misbehaved. I'll starve it. I mean, there are a million excuses I have heard as to why moms and dads starve the baby dead. But yet we see six other children seemingly healthy. And this is oftentimes what we do see in cases like this, Nancy.

So I, the other children need to be taking care of as well as this goes on because they have been suffering something called Stockholm syndrome. They want to, they are so scared. of the abuse that they see being heaped on this other child, that they go into it with their mother literally to protect themselves. Okay? Because Nancy, imagine how scared these other children are. They never know who's going to be next to be locked in that closet. So they're going to listen to their mama.

They're going to do what she says. And I think that they could probably also psychologically sort of break off from feeling towards the child that is being locked in the closet so that they can protect themselves because this is chaos that this family is living in. It is complete and utter chaos. And all of those other children are suffering. They may not be brain damaged. Excuse me.

They are not being, you know, they're not being starved. but they are also being damaged by the so-called mother of theirs. You said the other siblings are going to have to be in treatment. You're right because they didn't just watch their sister starve slowly to death. They were forced to keep her in the closet themselves. They're going to go to the rest of their lives thinking they starve their sister and now she's got permanent brain damage, Angie. That's exactly correct, Nancy.

These children have been abused in a different way. And it's all for a matter of control. It's to keep all of those children in control, Nancy. Because you know, you can only imagine there's one mother, all of these children. If somebody got old enough to decide, you know, we really shouldn't be treating this person this way. They could possibly escape or something like this, right? But that mother is making sure that they are so terrified. They are so terrified in the home that they live in.

And she feeds them so that they have this odd relationship with the mother where they still need her, but they're scared of her. So that none of them will go against her. To Bronwyn Blake joining us, adjunct professor, University Texas School of Law, chief legal officer Texas Advocacy Project. Browen, thank you for being with us. I've seen it many, many times where one child out of the whole group is singled out and they're the ones that starved. That child is the one that's abused. I don't understand the phenomena, but I accept it because I've seen it over and over.

Even cases that I've prosecuted, other children would go unscathed while the one child would end up dead. The idea that abuse is all about power and control really helps explain this dynamic. This person is not out of control. They're being very calculated and systematic in who they abuse and how. So all of those children experienced abuse just in different ways. Joining me is a special guest. This is Leanne Marie, friend of the children's mother, Virginia Gonzalez. Leanne, thank you for being with us.

Yes, ma'am. Leanne, Marie, tell me about. about Virginia Gonzalez. So from what I know, she was just a normal person. I mean, honestly, she never really had her kids with her, like, you know, presence. The only one that I've seen with her in the past year was the oldest one, the 14-year-old. Besides that, we never knew that she had, you know, the little girl. We only knew of boys.

So she was just a typical person partying out in the clubs and the bars. I mean, she was just, she never lived like she even had eight, nine kids. Very, very outgoing. Okay, you're scaring me now. William, Marie, you just said something that scared me. Okay, hold on. So I know that there are six children in the home, healthy-ish, one starved in a closet and one missing. That's eight.

but you mentioned nine, the possibility of a ninth child? Yes, ma'am. Is there a ninth child? Yes. So right now they're saying that this ninth child, he is not, he does not have a social security here in Texas. So he's not registered here in Texas. Okay.

Daryl Parker, I need you and I need you now. There's another missing child. Did you hear that? Daryl Parker, former lieutenant, Fannie County Sheriff's Office, former Marine, former Texas police officer. Help me. So we're learning right now that there's a ninth child that's in the wind.

Nobody knows how old the child is, where it is. It doesn't have a Texas Social Security number? Yeah, Nancy, that's pretty concerning. I know that the mom has already made several statements to police that are inconsistent about the child that is missing already that they already know about. And it'll be interesting to see if some follow-up questions, can reveal anything about this ninth child, a possible ninth child. Virginia Bagby joining us from Child Help National Abuse Hotline.

Going into this right now, I knew that there were eight children, six in the home, one starve near death with brain damage, and one missing since 2017. Now I'm hearing about child number nine. Is that child dead? I mean, what do you do when you get a call like this, the Child Help Hotline? Well, this is a really difficult one. I would encourage somebody to reach out to the local hospitals, potentially where all the other children have been born, to see if they have any record. This is very concerning to have two children missing.

Now, these other children have probably are aware that they have siblings that are missing. Add that to the terror they've been experiencing. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, a stunning. Guilty plea. Virginia Gonzalez stands next to lawyer in court and says guilty. The mom of multiple children, including a seven-year-old little girl, found locked in a dark closet that was barricaded down to about 26 pounds, fed one corn dog a day. If that, a 10-year-old brother told police, he was told he had to clean the closet, but could, you know,

the little sister would have to defecate and urinate in the closet. Now, in court, Virginia Gonzalez states, I instructed them not to let her out of the bedroom, but not the closet. So she would basically blame the other children. Quote, we'd catch her in the restroom doing something bad. What? What would she be doing in the bathroom at seven years old? quote, it was easier for my sons to watch her that way.

Well, what were you doing? Why would you leave a 10-year-old boy in charge of six other children? Text messages uncover. Gonzalez's texting one of her children. Quote, clean the closet, then throw her back in. In the affidavit, we obtained the detective describes a child as the fat in her cheeks was non-existence. Her body had used those stores to sustain itself. What more do we know? A shocking discovery inside a home leads police to investigate a long-buried secret.

Okay, Leah Marie is joining us, a friend of the mom, Virginia Gonzalez. Ms. Marie, thank you because what you've just said could save a child's life. Yes, ma'am. However, do you know, Leanne, is the ninth child older, younger girl boy? It's a boy and he is around age 9 to 10 years old. So she has a 14, an 11, a 10, a 9, a 7. I know she has 2, 3-year-olds, the newborn. So there's 9 from what I'm hearing right now.

Okay, hold on, let me have this up. There's a 14-year-old and 11-year-old, a 10-year-old, a 9-year-old is the boy that you think is, missing. A seven-year-old is a little girl starved in the closet. Two, three-year-olds. Okay. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I'm missing somebody. Fourteen, eleven, ten, nine. Seven. Three and three. And a newborn. What now? So, Ava's around eight, nine years old, and then the little boys right after her, 11 months difference. You stated that Virginia Gonzalez, the mother, the starving little girl and the other missing girl, was, quote, normal, would go partying at the clubs and the bars. Hey, I don't have a problem with that. Party down, Mommy. But what, would she ever mention who was taking care of the children while she's at the bar?

Um, so from we understand was that the kids, all the kids were left with the grandmother of, she has three kids that belonged to one father. And they were, that was who she was with the past seven years. And so they were supposedly all living with the grandmother. Okay. Dr. Angie Arnold, I need to shrink because why is she out on a boat parting while her child is starving in a closet and two children are missing? Right. And Nancy, how can she just be so unattached from all of these children that she's having? So my question is, why is she having all of these children? And I'm sorry, is it to support her lifestyle? And where are the fathers of these children? We always have to ask, where is, we're always, you know, why isn't the mother taken care of them? Okay, yes, she is a horrible person that has done horrible things to at least two of her children that we know about. Where are the fathers of these? children and why are any of them involved. But Nancy, I don't believe she should be out parting on a boat. I think that when you have children, you should be at home taking care of your children and not relying on someone else to take care of them. Because again, we don't know how children take that, but oftentimes when mothers are not around, children do sense a fear of abandonment when their mother is not taking care of them. But to Bronwyn Blake joining us, Adjunct Professor University of Texas School of Law,

Brahmin, I'm not the church lady. If mom wants to party, go ahead. If mom wants to vape and smoke, have at it. The issue is intent. When she is out partying in her club and bar finery, her child is at home starving and two of them are missing. Now, that goes to intent when I'm trying to prove felony child neglect to a judge. jury, that's when that type of video, let's see the video again, comes into play. I couldn't care

less what mommy wears or what bar she goes to, don't care. But if your child is at home starving in a closet, suddenly your behavior, your actions during that time are relevant. Absolutely. I can tell you're thinking like a prosecutor, the contrast between the images you're showing of this child and then her mother parting, it tells the whole story there. And unfortunately, many abusers present one face to some people can be very charming to some people. And then we hear about these horrible things happening at home. To Dr. Kimmel Crowns joining me, Chief Medical Examiner, Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth. Dr. Kimball Crowns, I've got one child starved almost beyond recognition. Her bones sticking out, you know, like they're visible through the,

the skin. I've got that child starved almost dead, permanent brain injury. I've got a missing little girl. And now I'm learning from Leigham Marie. There's another boy missing that is about one, two, three, fourth in the progression line of children. Lea Marie joining us, a friend of mom, Virginia Gonzalez. Did you know that Ava was missing? No. We had no idea. Um, Back in 2018, when I originally first met Virginia, we only knew of three little boys. So after talking to mutual friends and all concluding that, she had Ava's hair shaved like a boy. She never had Ava in her possess. I mean, she never let us know that it was a girl.

She had her presented as a boy to all of us. So we're all in shock. We didn't, nobody knew that she had Ava. Leanne, I don't understand this. So she showed you, Ava, but this is the missing child, not the starving child. Right. You saw Ava and she had her dressed like a boy with her head shaved? She had her hair.

She had him, he had a fade. He had a fade. I definitely confirmed this with her. her landlord and roommates that she lived with back in 2018, everybody concluded that and confirmed that it was a little boy. It was not a little. Nobody knew she had a little girl. Leanne, knowing the mother, why do you think she shaved the little girl's head and passed her off as a boy? I feel like that she had a anger issue with the little girls because of the way her mother treated her back when she was little. And I think that she was taking it out on these little girls because from all the evidence and information that I've collected, it's all based on the girls.

So, you know, she sold the baby who was a little girl that was just born in March. She starved a re-wee. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, my head is spinning. What? Did you just say she sold a baby? Yes. And CPS just found that baby when, okay, go ahead. That's the newborn baby?

That was just born in March. So that baby's been sold? Yes, but see. How much does she get from the baby? From what I heard, 25K. Christina Oweyo, tell me about the newborn baby girl that just got sold. Well, apparently from my investigations online, and none of this has been confirmed yet, but she did have this newborn baby.

And according to a person who says that they are a close relative of the family, she did have a newborn baby. It was sold to a couple. So if that is in fact the case, there could be a possibility that, Ava Marie Gonzalez was also sold. And that's something that will have to be looked into because it would be myopic of us to think that that possibility isn't out there. You know what?

Christina Arroyo, I can only hope and pray that she was sold and that she's alive and being treated better than little seven-year-old. To Leanne Marie, a friend of mom, Virginia Gonzalez, why did she sell her baby? I'm guessing financial issues. But at the same time, you know, all the money was going downtown 6th Street and at the strip clubs. I mean, she was just making it rain with money and buying bottles after bottles and buying everybody, buying the bar out. I mean, that's where I seen the money going. I didn't see anything else that she had.

I mean, she didn't even have a vehicle. You know what I mean? So, I mean, I think all the money was just going to partying. I don't think it was ever to just take care of her and the rest of the kids. You know what I mean? I noticed in the party video, she's got a Gucci bag strapped around her front. Was that a fake? Was that a frucci?

A fake Gucci? From my understanding everything that the police found in her room was everything was name brand. I don't think it was fake. But I do now know that a video was taped back in May, a year ago um she would just cover up her her her stomach i mean she would honestly now that i'm thinking i'm thinking she was trying to hide the pregnancy why because she was out there partying i mean on the boat party that which was in september of 2024 my birthday um you you can see in the video she was kind of closed she she didn't take the whole shot and i got other you know videos of

footage of her put in the shots on the side when people weren't watching um so i think she knew who she was pregnant, but she just didn't want the other, the world to know that she was pregnant. So she would literally buy bottles, get everybody drunk, and guess what, then nobody notices anything. Leanne, question. Did she discuss openly that she was selling the baby? No, no, ma'am. I found that out through one of the children's families, the ones that I've been speaking with

since the very beginning of the case when it first started getting investigated. it. Do you know who she sold the baby to? I do not know them personally. I just know that it was a couple. Well, Ian, why did she keep having children if she hated them so much? I don't think that she was having the children to, you know, just be this mother and to take care of them. I think she was living off the benefits, the snap and the, the EBT and the fathers. I think that was how she would hold some of these men, you know, in her life because a lot of them didn't deal with the children. They only dealt with her. And a lot of them didn't want the children.

They just wanted her. So I think that it was like the kids were like a tool for the men. She was a, you know how they say there's womanizers? I think she was like that with the men, like where she idolized men before her children. Did anyone ever wonder who would be taking care of the children while she's out partying? So from my friendship experience with her, she would come and go. So one minute she was out here popping bottles for about two, three months, and then she'll go ghost for six months a year,

and then she'll pop out of nowhere again. So it wasn't really, she was real discreet with the children. Like I said, I only went to her at that apartment where they found the child that was starving, and the other six children. I only went to that apartment one time, which was to go pick her up. And she, it was clean. It was the 14 year old was the only one there. I didn't ask because every time I asked about the children,

it was that they were with her, the grandmother, because her baby daddy was, you know, crazy after her. So she just left the children over him, so he would be calm is what she would tell us. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. New details. emerging in a case out of Austin, Texas, authorities first learn a seven-year-old girl is locked in a closet.

Who knows how long? She weighs 26 pounds. When they go to inspect that, they find out her sister has been missing for years. But it was only after that arrest, police learned she never. reported the disappearance of the other child, a nine-year-old little girl, missing since December 2017. Listen. During the investigation, police discovered that there was an eighth child who was

not found inside the home. The missing nine-year-old child was identified as Ava Marie Gonzalez. Missing persons detectives determined that Ava was last seen in December 2017 when she was two years old and in the custody of her mother, Virginia Marie Gonzalez. Learning there should be eight children in the apartment, not just the seven they found, police opened an investigation and quickly determined. Ava Marie has not been seen by family or friends since she was two years old in 2017 in custody of her mother, Virginia Gonzalez.

Considering the condition of Ava's seven-year-old sister when she was found, Austin police detectives are very concerned about Ava's welfare. So you've got six children seemingly healthy. You've got one child starved locked in a closet, and now you've got a missing child. Austin Police Department's still looking for another of Gonzalez's daughters, Ava, who hasn't been seen since December 2017. She was then around two years old. Gonzalez's son, the firstborn of her eight children, told investigators that Ava was

given away to a family when she was about three. November 2023, Child Protective Services Records state, Ava Gonzalez moved in with her father, the document allegedly signed by the grandmother of one of the Gonzalez children. When questioned about the document, the grandmother said the phone number on the CPS report was not hers, nor was it her signature. The Austin Police Department was able to track down Virginia Gonzalez's previous boyfriend and father of one of her children. He says Gonzalez claimed Ava was her sister's child and she was caring for her.

She also said Ava was living in San Antonio with an aunt and uncle. The ex-boyfriend said Gonzalez referred to Ava as a crack baby, meaning a premature baby, who was sickly having health problems and looked malnourished. Hospital records confirmed Ava was born to Virginia at 39 and a half weeks, weighing six pounds with no complications. After Gonzalez's arrest, she told police Eva was living in Mexico with her father. When contacted Ava's father in Mexico, declined ever having custody of the girl. He said he hadn't seen Ava since she was about one.

And he was told by Gonzalez that Ava was living with another family in San Antonio. Gonzalez says a man named Saul Jimenez took little Ava from her. and the man was the girl's father, but she now claims he was deported back to Mexico. Before, Jimenez's sister took Little Eva with her to Mexico as well. I only hope and pray that's true. Although Austin police say they are handling Little Ava's disappearance, quote, as a homicide investigation, adding they, quote, don't have any evidence she is alive. Gonzalez in court reports she did not kill her daughter.

What more do we know? Gonzalez's now 14-year-old son was around six when Ava went missing. He told investigators that he remembered something bad happening in an Austin motel bathroom. He says he heard Ava screaming really bad and peeked into the bathroom. He says his mother was violently assaulting Ava. in a bathtub full of running water. He says later he heard the water turn off about the same time.

Ava stopped screaming. He told investigators his mother then dressed Ava and put her in a car seat. The little girl looked like she was sleeping. Then Gonzalez told him Ava was going to live with a new family, a new mom and dad. He never saw her again. Detectives believe Ava may have died at her mother's hand on or around January 2nd, 2018. Leah and Marie is joining us, a friend of the mom, Virginia Gonzalez.

So you think that she's having the children in order to get state benefits? I don't think it's just state benefits. I think, like I said, it's more of a tool for the men that she was in love with. I mean, some of them, some of the, from what I'm understanding, too, is some of the kids, I mean, she don't even know who the father is to some of the kids. I mean, she was known for being in the club, you know, with multiple men. So, I mean, I don't think that she used the children just for the benefits. I think it was just more of tools to keep the men in her life to help benefit her with the money and the pain for this and pain for that.

And that's what I think. To Daryl Parker joining me, former Lieutenant Fannie County Sheriff's Office at blackfish intel.com, Daryl, how do we go about finding the two missing children? You've got the little girl missing. We've got an age-for-gress photo of her. You've got her missing. You've got a nine-year-old boy missing. I believe the little newborn girl that was sold has been recovered.

But how do you go about finding the two missing children? Well, you know, Nancy, I see a lot of parallels between this case and the Casey Anthony case. And if you recall, the thing that really bogged down that investigation was Casey Anthony's multiple stories where she gave the police all these different. versions of what happened to her child. And so in this case, I think the mom has given them some inconsistent stories. They're going to have to track these down. And this is over a period of time, too. Seven years is a lot longer period of time than when Casey Anthony's child was missing.

So it's going to be a lot more difficult for law enforcement to piece that together. But she couldn't have done all this without other adults being aware of what was going on, at least collaterally. So I think there are going to be some other collateral witnesses that can help provide some information to try and find the kids. Brom and Blake, I don't understand how the mother can be getting government benefits, but they're not in school because the government does know they exist and they're of school age. How does that work? This is not supposed to happen. When you hear a story like those multiple systems have failed, this mother was purposely not taking her.

children to school, I'm sure, because the teachers would have seen something. She's not taking them to their doctor's appointments because the doctors would have seen something. Here in Texas, every single adult is a mandatory reporter of child abuse, not just those professionals I mentioned. Neighbors, family members, if anyone saw something, it's the law that they had to report it. Christina O'Iio, what more do you know? Well, the woman who is online identifying as a very close family members. She revealed that their newborn baby was sold. She also was revealing some of the details about what Virginia was telling each one of the family members. It kind of lines up with what Virginia Gonzalez's friend was telling us about the story she was saying. She pitted the two families against

each other. She allegedly told one family that the kids were in the care of the other family. Her side of the family told her mom the same thing vice versa. This woman also claims that the father of three of Virginia Gonzalez's children actually took care. of six of the children for two years until he went to jail allegedly back in December. And that's when she's saying that Virginia Gonzalez went and picked up all the kids. She had kept the 14-year-old with her originally and then went back and picked up all the kids. So that was in December, which means that if she picked up the little seven-year-old girl, who they are calling Riri, in December, then that means that little girl was suffering,

most likely six months of abuse before that 911 call came in and they discovered her in the closet. So apparently this woman is describing Virginia Gonzalez as very manipulative. And it's, it's crazy because they also say that she didn't allow any of the children to go to school. And there are no records of any of the children being in school. And as for Abe and Marie Gonzalez, there's no medical records. There's no legal records. So this is a really convoluted case. And if it's true what they're saying about the baby being sold to a couple, that the possibility of Abe and Marie Gonzalez being sold to a couple is there as well. But it might, it might be have been sold, the baby might have been sold to a more nefarious outfit, which means we could be

looking at something concerning child trafficking, which we hope that's not the case. But either way, there is a lot of avenues that investigators need to go down and there are a lot of leads that they need to investigate. Leah and Marie, now that you realize the extent of what Virginia Gonzalez was doing to her children, are you surprised? Very, I'm very shocked. I'm very displeased. I'm very displeasoned. I just, I just, I can't believe it. I mean, she put up this image. I, I would have never in my right state of mine thought that she was starving a kid or abusing the children like that. I would have said something. To Dr. Angela Arnold, how can you present one facade to the public and live such a dark, private life? You know what? That comes, that comes from years and years of abuse. Because people who have been, abused, learn how to compartmentalize different things in their life. So this woman, because of the purported abuse that she experienced as a child, has learned how to contain the different parts

of her life and separate them. It all stems from her abuse. If you know or think you know anything regarding these missing children. Please dial 512-572-8-4-77. Repeat. 512-572-8-4-77. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.