24 replies to this topic

[Lori Davis]

http://www.myfoxaust...sing-Austin-Mom
Family Members Worried About Missing Austin Mom
Updated: Tuesday, 30 Mar 2010, 10:15 PM CDT
Published : Monday, 29 Mar 2010, 5:47 PM CDT

AUSTIN, TX - (AUSTIN)- Family members of 21-year-old Julie Ann Gonzalez print and post fliers, spreading the word in hopes that someone will have an idea of where the Austin mother could be.

"We've just been waiting around, hoping she'll contact one of us, stop by, hoping to hear something. And nothing," Dora Cooper, Julie's aunt, tells FOX 7.

Cooper says on Friday, Gonzalez went to her soon-to-be ex-husband's home to pick up their two-year-old daughter.

"We share. It is routine for her to come in the mornings to drop off, and come back the next day," George de la Cruz, Julie's husband, said.

But on a routine pickup Friday, de la Cruz noticed something different about his wife's demeanor. "She was kind of down, she was like not there, kind of like spaced out," de la Cruz describes.

Gonzalez ended up asked him to keep their daughter through the weekend. De la Cruz says he would've never thought she'd disappear. Days later, the car Gonzalez had just bought three weeks ago, sits in Walgreens parking lot.

"Yeah, I was the last person to see her, I understand I'm the suspect but like I said, I don't have nothing to be afraid of. I didn't do nothing," de la Cruz said.

APD's Missing Persons Unit has opened an investigation, but at this point they don't suspect foul play.

"That's just not her. Totally out of character for her."

Julie Gonzalez is described as a 21-year-old Hispanic woman, 5-feet-tall, 140-pounds, brown eyes and brownish-black hair. If you've seen her call Austin Police Department at 512-974-5000.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.cbsnews.c...876-504083.html
Search for Missing Texas Mom Julie Ann Gonzalez Continues
Posted by Caroline Black
April 30, 2010 4:29 PM
AUSTIN, Texas (CBS) Police are continuing to search for missing Texas mom Julie Ann Gonzalez. Gonzalez disappeared over a month ago, but with very little evidence and a lack of new leads many questions remain unanswered.

According to the Austin Police Department's spokeswoman Anna Sabana, the case is still open and being investigated.

Unfortunately, she also asserts that there is no physical evidence to indicate that Gonzalez was a victim of foul play, and without probable cause, police cannot search her abandoned car or look at her phone records, reports CNN.

The 21-year-old mother was last seen by her estranged husband George De La Cruz on March 26. De La Cruz and Gonzalez were in the process of getting a divorce; however, he maintains that he had nothing to do with her disappearance and says he is willing to take a polygraph test.

De La Cruz told CNN that when Gonzalez came to pick up their two-year-old daughter at his house she "looked completely different. She kind of looked sad."

Gonzalez told him that she would be back later, but she never returned to pick up her daughter.

"She's always been responsible. She always looked out for the best interest of her 2-year-old daughter. That was her main concern, 24-7," Gonzalez's Aunt Dora Cooper told CNN.

Julie Ann's family fears the worst because they do not believe would willingly leave her daughter.

The family of missing mother Julie Ann Gonzalez prays for her safe return and asks that anyone who has information regarding her whereabouts contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5000.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.kxan.com/...n-mom-continues

Search for missing Austin mom continues
Police conduct search warrant at S. Austin home
Updated: Friday, 14 May 2010, 3:56 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 14 May 2010, 3:41 PM CDT
Jackie Vega

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Some seven weeks after an Austin mother went missing , the Austin Police Department conducted a search warrant at a South Austin home on Garden Oaks Drive .

While police said they could not discuss the activity at the location in detail due to the ongoing investigation, they continue looking into the whereabouts of Julie Ann Gonzalez, 21. The Austin mother went missing March 26, last seen at her soon-to-be ex-husband's home.

Gonzalez's family said police impounded two vehicles and took other items from the home during the search Friday.

Authorities said they have not ruled anything out, looking at all possible explanations for Gonzalez's disappearance.

The couple shares custody of their 2-year-old daughter, but instead of sticking to her routine of picking her daughter up, Gonzalez allegedly asked the father to hold on to the girl.

Days later, Gonzalez's new car was found abandoned in a Walgreens parking lot, with Gonzalez nowhere to be found.

Soon after her disappearance, dozens of family members and friends took to the streets outside Fairview Baptist Church to raise awareness about the missing Austin mother.

They passed out fliers, held posters plastered with her picture and sold barbecue to raise reward money.

APD has been investigating this case since it was first reported, saying that authorities are grateful to the assistance of Gonzalez’s family and their tireless efforts to keep her information in the public forum.

Still, police said they have yet to receive information or uncover any evidence that helps locate Gonzalez, even with the help of national and local media and tips from citizens. They have also been unable to clarify the circumstances under which she disappeared.

Gonzalez's family said she would have never left her daughter or her close-knit family.

APD urges anyone with information about Gonzalez's current whereabouts or the circumstances under which she disappeared to call the department's Missing Persons Hotline at (512) 974-5250

[Lori Davis]

http://www.kvue.com/...--93815849.html

Police search former home of missing Austin woman

by JADE MINGUS / KVUE News
Posted on May 14, 2010 at 5:40 PM
Updated May 14, 2010 at 6:05 PM

Austin police Friday searched the former home of a missing Austin woman. Julie Ann Gonzalez, 21, was last seen March 26. She is the mother of a 2-year-old girl.

Police executed a search warrant at her former South Austin home on Garden Oaks Drive. Her estranged husband, George De La Cruz, lives there now.

Austin police will not say what they removed from the home. Neighbors watched officers remove several bags and tow two vehicles from the home.

“There was a helicopter, a cop car blocking the top of the street, and the middle of the street. White vans and detectives hanging out with gloves and taking photos of two cars and people just coming and going,” said a neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous.

APD released the following statement about the Julie Ann Gonzalez case: “The activity generated at this location cannot be discussed in detail at this time due to the continued and on-going investigation.”

A spokesperson with APD says detectives have not ruled anything out.

So far, no arrests have been made.

[Lori Davis]

http://news8austin.c...o-missing-woman
APD search home in connection to missing woman
By: News 8 Austin Staff
05/14/2010 04:06 PM


Austin police have searched a home in connection to a woman who has been missing since March.

Julie Ann Gonzalez's family said they last saw her in Austin on March 26. They said she was supposed to pick up her two-year-old daughter. She showed up, but didn't take her daughter with her.

According to police, they haven't been able to determine the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.

Officials with APD said they haven’t ruled anything out, and aren't saying why officers searched the home.

[Jenn]

http://www.kxan.com/...-missing-mother

Fundraiser organized for missing mother
Julie Gonzalez was last seen at ex-husband's home

Updated: Monday, 17 May 2010, 9:18 AM CDT
Published : Sunday, 16 May 2010, 10:13 PM CDT

JOHNSON CITY, Texas (KXAN) - Family members of a missing Austin mother are raising awareness and money Sunday to help their search for her.

Julie Ann Gonzalez went missing March 26, and her case has since garnered national attention as Austin police continue investigating her disappearance. The search for the missing mother landed on the "Dr. Phil" show Friday.

Still, there are no major leads, and the family set up a booth Sunday afternoon at the Muddy Buddy race in Johnson City, Texas.

They sold breakfast tacos and wore shirts that read: "Have you seen her?"

Austin Police Department investigators served a search warrant at the home of her estranged husband Friday but have not released what they found there, if anything.

The Gonzalez family said a family friend invited them to set up at Muddy Buddy because it's such a popular event.

"Because it's such a big turnout, there'd be a lot of people who would see Julie's pictures and know about it," said a family member. "Maybe something would come out of this."

Gonzalez was last seen at the home of her soon-to-be ex-husband George de la Cruz. Days later, her new car was found abandoned in a Walgreens parking lot.

APD urges anyone with information about Gonzalez's current whereabouts or the circumstances under which she disappeared to call the department's Missing Persons Hotline at (512) 974-5250.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.kvue.com/...n-94704199.html

Billboard brings more visibility to missing Austin woman
by STEVE ALBERTS /KVUE News
kvue.com
Posted on May 23, 2010 at 6:02 PM

A new billboard is helping bring more visibility to a missing Austin woman.

It involves the case of Julie Ann Gonzalez. The billboard went up last week in Southeast Austin. It's located along Ben White and Woodward Street. The -21 year old has been missing since March 26TH. Her car was found abandoned at a South Austin Walgreens. Her mother, Sandra Soto hopes the billboard will jog people’s memory and help bring her home.

“It's very hard to see my daughter's face up there and the word missing next to it,” said Soto. “She's beautiful. I wish I could have her with me instead of seeing her picture on a billboard.”

Earlier this month, Austin police searched Gonzalez’s former home on Garden Oaks Drive in South Austin. Her estranged husband George De La Cruz lives there now. The two were going through a divorce during the time she disappeared.

Neighbors say officers removed several bags of evidence and towed away two vehicles. The Austin Police department will not comment on what they found or why they were searching the home in the first place.

“I don’t think there was any new evidence found. It’s just since he did hire an attorney, and we’re not cooperating with them, they didn’t have any choice but to get a warrant and make sure there isn’t anything there, and again there isn’t,” said Austin Attorney Patrick Fagerberg, who is now representing De La Cruz.

Fagerberg said Austin police questioned his client several times and he always cooperated. He maintains De La Cruz knows nothing of Gonzalez’s disappearance.

“My client had nothing to do with it -- he’s maintained that from the beginning, and continues to maintain that. I think when it’s all said and done, those facts will come out,” said Fagerberg.

Gonzalez's family is offering a ten thousand dollar reward  for information on her disappearance. The family is planning a fundraiser on June 10th.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.kxan.com/...for-missing-mom

Benefit held for missing mom
Police: Last seen at her estranged husband's house

Updated: Sunday, 18 Jul 2010, 7:02 PM CDT
Published : Sunday, 18 Jul 2010, 7:02 PM CDT

Family and friends of a missing Austin woman are still doing all they can to keep her story fresh in people's minds.

The effort continued Sunday with a $20.00 per-plate cookout in West Travis County.

Julie Ann Gonzalez disappeared in March. She was last seen at her estranged husband's house, her new car was found abandoned days later.

Since then her family has pulled out all the stops, putting together numerous fundraisers to keep paying private detectives for work on the case.

At one point they even rented out a billboard at I-35 and 290 and put Julie's picture on it.

Family members thank everyone helping to keep alive the search for Julie Ann.

[Denise Harrison]

http://www.kvue.com/...d-98717794.html

Family of missing woman says case has gone cold

by KVUE News
kvue.com
Posted on July 18, 2010 at 10:15 PM
Updated today at 9:59 AM

An Austin family continues to raise awareness to help in the search for their 21-year-old daughter who went missing nearly four months ago.

A fundraiser was held Sunday for the family of Julie Ann Gonzalez at a restaurant in Bee Cave. The family says the money will be used to pay legal expenses and raise awareness.

Family members are now concerned the investigation has gone cold.

"The police department has not shared anything with us, we've called them, we've tried to keep in touch with them, we've provided them with a lot of information, but they have yet to share anything with us or to let our family know about anything," said Dora Cooper, Julie Ann's aunt.

Gonzalez went missing on March 26.  She was supposed to meet her estranged husband and pick up their 2-year-old daughter, but she never showed up.

[Denise Harrison]

http://www.cbsnews.c...188-504083.html

Julie Ann Gonzalez Update: Husband of Missing Texas Mom Claims Harassment

July 21, 2010 2:28 PM

AUSTIN, Texas (CBS) As police continue to search for missing Texas mom Julie Ann Gonzalez, who disappeared in March, her estranged husband is now claiming he is the victim of harassment and vandalism.

PICTURES: Julie Ann Gonzalez Missing

The 21-year-old mother was last seen by her estranged husband George De La Cruz on March 26. De La Cruz and Gonzalez were in the process of getting a divorce. He maintains that he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

According to KVUE, De La Cruz claims someone smashed his car windshield while it was parked in front of his Austin home. De La Cruz had recently been at a custody hearing for Gonzalez's 2-year-old daughter.

"We feel whoever is doing this is retaliating. It's for us not giving the family custody or access to Layla," Patrick Fagerberg, De La Cruz's Attorney, told KVUE.

Very little evidence in the case and the lack of new leads have left many questions unanswered.

According to the Austin Police Department's spokeswoman Anna Sabana, police have found no physical evidence that indicate that Gonzalez was a victim of foul play.

De La Cruz told CNN in April that when Gonzalez came to pick up their daughter at his house she "looked completely different."

Gonzalez told him that she would be back later, but she never returned to pick up her daughter.

Months later, Gonzalez's family fears the worst.

Anyone who has information regarding her whereabouts is urged to contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5000.

[Jenn]

http://www.kvue.com/...-100797514.html

Search warrants implicate estranged husband in case of missing Austin mother

by NOELLE NEWTON / KVUE News Posted on August 16, 2010 at 5:48 PM Updated yesterday at 5:54 PM

For the first time, Austin police used the word "murder" regarding the disappearance of mother Julie Ann Gonzalez.

Pictures of 21-year-old Julie Ann Gonzalez show an excited young mom. The last time anyone saw her smile was five months ago.

KVUE spoke to her mom, Sandra Soto, shortly after her disappearance.

"It's an empty feeling I can't get rid of," Soto said. "It's just a pain like no other pain I have ever experienced in my whole life."

Gonzalez's estranged husband, George DeLaCruz, told police Gonzalez went to his home on March 26 to pick up their daughter, but instead asked him to keep her a few more days. Two days later, her car was found abandoned in a Walgreen's parking lot near her home.

Monday, five search warrants were made public. All include the words "murder," "homicide," or "abduction."

In one warrant the detective states it is his belief "George DeLaCruz committed the offense of murder."                       

Police searched DeLaCruz's South Austin home on May 14 and carried out bags of items and towed two vehicles.

The search warrants reveal what police were looking for: blood, bone fragments, and human tissue.

Among the items listed are XBox games and baby products DeLaCruz was allegedly shown on camera purchasing from a Wal-Mart with Gonzalez's debit card the day she went missing. Police say the card was used two more times that day at different McDonald's locations.

Police also requested access to DeLaCruz and Gonzalez's Yahoo email accounts, Facebook and MySpace records and their cell phones.

APD released a statement Monday saying:

"While some items were seized that may be of evidentiary value, not all items sought were found. At this time, George De La Cruz is considered a person of interest and it is believed that he has information that could be of great assistance to the investigation. De La Cruz has been interviewed in the past but is currently not cooperating with the investigation."

DeLaCruz's attorney would not comment regarding the new information, but says his client has not been arrested or charged. In May, he adamantly proclaimed DeLaCruz's innocence.

"He had nothing to do with her disappearance. He loved her, he loved their child and did everything he could cooperating with the authorities,” said Patrick Fagerberg.

If you have information regarding this case you are urged to call the homicide tipline at 512-477-3588.


See below for the Austin Police Department's full statement:

Statement regarding Julie Ann Gonzalez from the Austin Police Department:

On March 27, 2010 Julie Ann Gonzalez was reported missing. Initially it appeared that Julie’s disappearance was voluntary based on text messages sent to Julie’s family and friends from her cell phone. However, the length of time since Julie’s last communication with family and other information uncovered causes concern about Julie’s welfare. While voluntary withdrawal cannot be conclusively eliminated as a possibility, it becomes more unlikely as each day passes without contact from Julie.


A team of investigators from the Austin Police Department Violent Crimes Command have been investigating this case. During the investigation, APD gathered information that led us to believe that her disappearance may not have been voluntary. On May 14, 2010, APD executed a search warrant at the residence of George De La Cruz, Julie’s estranged husband. In that search warrant, detectives asked for numerous items of evidence that they believed would be found at the residence. While some items were seized that may be of evidentiary value, not all items sought were found.

At this time, George De La Cruz is considered a person of interest and it is believed that he has information that could be of great assistance to the investigation. De La Cruz has been interviewed in the past but is currently not cooperating with the investigation. In the best interest of this investigation, APD is unable to share additional information at this time.

APD has been and continues to work diligently on this investigation. The investigation will not end until Julie’s family has the answers it seeks about what has happened to her.

APD appreciates the assistance we have received from national, local media and tips from citizens. APD is grateful to the assistance of Julie’s family and their tireless efforts to keep her information in the public forum.

The department urges anyone with information about Julie’s current whereabouts or the circumstances under which she disappeared to call the Austin Police Department’s Homicide Tipline at 512-477-3588.

[Jenn]

http://www.news8aust...ing-since-march

APD still searching for woman missing since March

08/16/2010 08:21 PM By: News 8 Austin Staff



The Austin Police Department is searching for a woman originally thought to have disappeared voluntarily five months ago.

Julie Ann Gonzalez was last seen in South Austin on March 26. Her car was later found in a Walgreen's parking lot. Gonzalez's family said she was supposed to pick her daughter up from her estranged husband that day.

According to a website dedicated to finding Gonzalez, the estranged husband, George De La Cruz, said she decided to leave their daughter with him for a few more days.

Police initially though Gonzalez’s disappearance was voluntary, based on text messages sent to her family and friends from her cell phone. However, the length of time since her last communication with family, compiled with other information, gives police reason to believe otherwise.

APD executed a search warrant at De La Cruz's home in May, in which detectives asked for numerous items they believed would be found at the residence. Police said that while some items were seized that may be of evidentiary value, not all items sought were found.

At this time, APD considers De La Cruz a person of interest. Police said they have interviewed De La Cruz in the past, but he is currently not cooperating with the investigation.

A $20,000 reward is being offered for information about her location or disappearance. Anybody with information about the case is asked to call the Austin Police Department’s Homicide Tipline at (512) 477-3588.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.cnn.com/2...as.missing.mom/

Lawyer: Husband of missing Texas woman has 'watertight alibi'By the CNN Wire Staff
August 19, 2010 8:12 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- The husband of a Texas woman missing since March has a "completely watertight alibi" on the day his estranged wife disappeared, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Julie Ann Gonzalez was last seen March 26 by her estranged husband, George De La Cruz, and Austin police said this week that they consider De La Cruz a "person of interest" in the disappearance. But the husband's lawyer told HLN's "Issues With Jane Velez-Mitchell" that the documents are between three and nine months old.

"If anyone would look at the timeline of the day that Julie Ann disappeared and the timeline my client has provided from morning till night, it is physically impossible that he had anything to do with her disappearance," the attorney, Patrick Fagerberg, said. "It is a completely watertight alibi everywhere he was."

Gonzalez, 21, was last seen March 26 when she came to pick up the couple's 2-year-old daughter. De La Cruz has said his wife appeared "out of it" when she came to the house, changed her mind about picking up their daughter and said she would come back later.

The couple was going through a divorce, and Gonzalez had told a friend about a new man in her life whom she said was taking her away for the weekend, her mother, Sandra Soto, said in May. But she said Gonzalez's MySpace page was updated by a mobile phone user after her disappearance to add posts that read "I wanted to run away" and "I'm sick of the BS in my life."

Her car, which was almost brand new, was found abandoned outside a Walgreen's drug store. Gonzalez worked as a pharmacy technician at another Walgreen's. And Gonzalez has not accessed her bank account since her disappearance, but someone used her credit card to purchase the movie "The Spiderwick Chronicles" at a store in Austin, her mother said.

Fagerberg said De La Cruz was the one who purchased the movie. He said he spent three hours with detectives Tuesday, "going over the warrants and giving the logical, innocent explanation for some things in those warrants which may appear incriminating on the surface."

But he said that when all the facts emerge, "You will see that there was an innocent explanation for everything that happened that day," he said.

[Jenn]

Charley Project Profile for Julie: http://www.charleypr...alez_julie.html
 

[Jenn]

http://www.cbsnews.c...121-504083.html

Julie Ann Gonzalez Update: Husband George De La Cruz Named "Person of Interest" in Disappearance

August 19, 2010 1:23 PM Posted by Carlin DeGuerin Miller

AUSTIN, Texas (CBS) A little over three months after Julie Ann Gonzalez was reported missing by her aunt, recently released court documents reveal that Austin police have been investigating her estranged husband, George De La Cruz, as a person of interest in the case since early May, and turned up some potentially incriminating evidence while serving a search warrant that same month.

According to the search warrant, investigators found a debit card belonging to Gonzalez in De La Cruz's house along with the car keys belonging to Gonzalez. Investigators also found droplets of blood and human tissue as well as hair and fibers, CBS affiliate KEYE reported.

De La Cruz is thought to be the last person to see Gonzalez before she disappeared when she came to his house to pick up their 2-year-old daughter, Layla, at around 11 a.m. March 26. The two were going through a contentious divorce, but shared custody of Layla who had been spending a few days with her father. De La Cruz says Gonzalez looked "out of it" when she arrived and asked him to keep Layla a few more days because she needed to get away and spend some time alone.

That was the last time anyone has reported seeing Gonzalez. Her aunt, Dora Cooper, reported her missing the next day and Gonzalez's car was found abandoned in a pharmacy parking lot not far from De La Cruz's house March 28.

The documents do not reveal whether the blood or hair belonged to Gonzalez, but surveillance video captured De La Cruz using the debit card to buy a video with his daughter just after he says he last saw Gonzalez.

The documents also state that in May De La Cruz's mother, who lives with him, led cops to a hole that had been dug under a large storage shed in the backyard. De La Cruz told police at the time that the previous owners had dug the hole for "plumbing purposes." But his mother contradicted his story saying she had not noticed the whole until May 4, according to the Austin American Statesman.

Police returned later to execute a search warrant for the storage shed but did not find a body, the paper reported.

Also in May, Gonzalez's family took her story national, appearing on the "Dr.Phil" for a segment entitled "Runaway Moms." De La Cruz appeared as well and took a polygraph test, answering questions like "are you responsible for Julie's disappearance?" He failed the test, KEYE reported.

De La Cruz's attorney, Patrick Fagerberg, refutes the reports and suspicions against his client saying that De La Cruz has a "watertight alibi" "from morning till night" for the day that Gonzalez went missing, according to CNN.

As for the debit card and keys to the abandoned car Fagerberg told the news channel that "there [is] an innocent explanation for everything that happened that day."

[Jenn]

Family website for Julie: http://www.julieanngonzalez.com

[Jenn]

http://www.news8aust...ing-for-answers

Mother of missing woman still searching for answers

December 8, 2010 By: John A. Salazar

Julie Ann Gonzalez, 21, has been missing since March. After several months with no answers, Gonzalez’s mother, Sandra Soto, is turning to a private investigator for help.

Gonzalez was last seen in South Austin on March 26. Her car was later found in a Walgreen's parking lot. Gonzalez's family said she was supposed to pick her daughter up from her estranged husband that day.

According to a website dedicated to finding Gonzalez, the estranged husband, George De La Cruz, said she decided to leave their daughter with him for a few more days.

Police initially though Gonzalez’s disappearance was voluntary, based on text messages sent to her family and friends from her cell phone.

However, the length of time since her last communication with family, compiled with other information, gives police reason to believe otherwise. They say De La Cruz is a person of interest in the case.

"I have nothing to hide and I'm not running away," De La Cruz said during an interview on CNN. "I am trying to help.”

Sosa is now earning extra money selling homemade tamales to pay for the private investigator. She says she needs additional help because Austin Police aren’t doing enough.

"The Austin Police Department is not sharing any information with me. I don't know what they're doing,” she said. “I don't know if they're looking. I don't know if they're not looking. I don't know anything.”

Sosa has even gone as far as posting pricey billboards across the Austin metropolitan area with information regarding her daughter’s disappearance.

"If we find out that she is gone, then at least that is closure, that's something,” she said. “We can put it to rest, but right now we just don't know anything."

A homicide detective has been assigned to investigate the disappearance of Gonzalez. Police say they will not give up on the investigation until her family has all the answers they need in the case.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Julie Ann Gonzalez, please contact the Austin Police Department at (512) 974-5000.

[Lori Davis]

The search continues for Julie Ann Gonzalez

By: John A. Salazar
07/11/2011

The search continues for Julie Ann Gonzalez, and the missing woman's family isn't giving up until they have answers. Gonzalez' mother Sandra Soto hosted a fundraising event in South Austin Sunday to help pay for the investigation into her daughter's disappearance.

Since her 21-year-old daughter went missing in March 2010, Soto has fought tirelessly to try and find out what happened to her. During Sunday’s fundraiser, she provided food and got the the word out to the community about Gonzalez’ story.

Read more: http://austin.ynn.co...ie-ann-gonzalez

[Lori Davis]

http://www.kxan.com/...ights-for-child

Family of missing mom fights for child
Custody battle for Julie Ann Gonzalez's daughter

Updated: Wednesday, 25 Apr 2012, 6:44 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 25 Apr 2012, 5:38 PM CDT
Chris Sadeghi

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Julie Ann Gonzalez has been missing for more than two years, but her name was on the family docket at the Travis County Courthouse on Wednesday.

That’s because her family is fighting for visitation rights to see her 4-year-old daughter Layla.

“We want her to see that she has a family that loves her. Mom is not here right now, but the rest of her family is,” said Sandra Soto, Julie Ann’s mother.

George De La Cruz, the baby’s father and Gonzalez’s estranged husband, has primary custody of the girl. He has been called a person of interest in Gonzalez’s disappearance.

Soto says she has not seen Layla since the first week in March and wants to have a regular visitation schedule.

De La Cruz’s attorney Bret Doyal says harassment and accusations from the maternal side of the family have made that difficult.

“We have said all along we aren’t trying to alienate that side of the family,” said Doyal. “It is just that the hostility is not in the child’s best interest.”

Police say De La Cruz is not cooperating with the investigation into Gonzalez’s disappearance in March of 2010.

The judge in Wednesday’s custody hearing said a visitation schedule will be put together, but asked Soto and her family to stop harassing De La Cruz and his family.

Soto says fundraising and search efforts for Gonzalez have slowed down as they have fought to see Layla.

“My focus is my other children and granddaughter. Julie is in God’s hands. I have to believe Julie is in God’s hands," Soto said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.statesman...old-case/nTDkm/

Austin police to combine missing persons, cold case homicide units

Posted: 4:37 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, 2012
By Patrick George
American-Statesman Staff

At the Austin Police Department’s missing persons unit, a team of detectives sort through about 4,000 reports of missing people every year.

Most of those people turn up again. Some are children involved in bitter custody disputes, some are teen runaways, and some are elderly or disabled people who become lost.

But others stay missing for good, like Roxanne Paltauf, the teenager who disappeared from the Rundberg Lane area of North Austin in 2006, or Julie Ann Gonzalez, who was 21 when she vanished from South Austin in 2010.

When people are missing without a trace for many years, there is a strong likelihood that foul play is involved and that they are dead, said Police Cmdr. Steven Deaton, who oversees the department’s violent crimes command. For that reason, the department is merging its missing persons unit with the cold case homicide unit, Deaton said.

Now, a team of six detectives — three from each unit — plus a lieutenant, a sergeant and an administrator will comb through the list of outstanding missing persons cases to see which ones need to be investigated as potential homicides.

Among the most suspicious of missing persons cases are those that don’t come up in any online searches.

“That’s very hard in this age of technology,” Deaton said. “One way or another, you’re in some kind of system.”
Even if people leave a city willingly and don’t want to be found, if they don’t show tax records, a work history, contacts with law enforcement, an application for government assistance or even a Facebook page, foul play could be suspected, Deaton said.

Examples of those kinds of cases include Paltauf, who was 18 when she disappeared while staying with an on-and-off boyfriend at the Budget Inn near East Rundberg Lane and Interstate 35. She was last seen July 7, 2006. Investigators said they have spoken with the boyfriend, Louis Walls, “many times” but have been unable to either eliminate him as a suspect or implicate him in Paltauf’s disappearance.

Another case investigators mentioned was the disappearance of Gonzalez, a young mother reported missing March 28, 2010. Police have said her estranged husband, George De La Cruz, was a “person of interest” in the case, but he was not charged and has maintained his innocence. Gonzalez’s family has since launched a campaign to find her that includes billboards and fliers.

Both the cold case and missing persons units have had considerable success at what they do. Last year, the missing persons unit located or returned 97 percent of the people reported missing, a figure that includes 98 percent of 2,460 runaway-child cases and 94 percent of 276 “request-to-locates” cases in which an adult is missing but not suspected to be in any kind of danger.

Since the cold case unit’s official inception in 2000, they have solved 25 of the department’s outstanding homicide cases — something its supervisors say is remarkable considering they work on cases where evidence is scant, has degraded over time or is nonexistent. More than 160 outstanding cold cases remain, a number that police say is far lower than other major cities in Texas.

The new combined unit will work out of police headquarters downtown. Its supervisor, Lt. Michael Eveleth, said the unit’s analyst sifted through hundreds of missing persons cases listed as outstanding in their system. Many of those were cleared through talking to family members or other means, Eveleth said. About 100 remain outstanding, though Eveleth said he expects that number to go down.

But some of them will not, and may need to be investigated as possible homicides.

“We realized, after looking into some of these cases for a while, that they need to be investigated by homicide detectives,” Eveleth said. “If we do find some cases like that, it will fall under the umbrella of cold case.”

Eveleth said that combining the work of the two units will mean a great deal more work for detectives. He said they can pull investigators from other units when they get hot tips that need to be followed immediately.

“It’s not an insurmountable,” he said. “I think this is something we need to do, especially looking at old missing persons cases with modern technology and social media. If someone has been missing since the ’90s and is still missing, something is wrong."

[Lori Davis]

http://www.austinchr...-womans-murder/

Husband Charged With Missing Woman's Murder
Police still need info on disappearance of Julie Ann Gonzales

BY JORDAN SMITH, 4:08PM, FRI. SEP. 13

More than three years after Julie Ann Gonzalez disappeared, Austin Police announced today that her estranged husband, George De La Cruz, has been indicted and charged with her murder.

Gonzalez disappeared in March 2010, and was last seen at De La Cruz's South Austin residence. According to De La Cruz, she came over that day to pick up their daughter, of whom they shared custody, but then said that she needed a few more days alone and asked if he could continue to watch the child. Gonzalez has not been seen or heard from since.

Initially, police thought Gonzalez might have disappeared voluntarily, based on text messages sent to her family from her cell phone. But the fact that she never returned, and failed to maintain communication, quickly led her family, and police, to think otherwise. Police executed a search warrant at De La Cruz's home in May 2010 but said they were not able to recover all of the items they thought they would find there.

The case remained cold, at least publicly, until APD announced today that a Travis County grand jury has indicted De La Cruz for murder in connection with Gonzalez's disappearance. According to a press release, De La Cruz was picked up this morning by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and is being held on a $500,000 bond.

Notably, the case remains under investigation, and the APD is still asking anyone with information about Gonzalez's disappearance to call the APD homicide tip line at 512/477-3588.

[Lori Davis]

http://kxan.com/2015...-la-cruz-trial/

 

Mother details days leading up to Julie Ann Gonzalez’s disappearance

 

Jackie VegaChris Sadeghi

By Jackie Vega and Chris Sadeghi

Published: April 21, 2015, 8:34 am  Updated: April 22, 2015, 5:59 pm

 

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Shedding tears before she even reached the witness stand, Sandra Soto testified about raising her daughter Julie Ann Gonzalez, the last days before she disappeared, and her hopeful — yet desperate — plea for her daughter’s safe return and answers to what happened five years ago.

 

George De La Cruz is on trial for the murder of his estranged wife, but her body has never been found.

 

Sweet, playful and a beautiful heart is how she described her daughter, who received a scholarship to attend St. Edward’s University. But after becoming pregnant, Gonzalez realized the necessity of a career job and dropped out of school to become a pharmacy tech at Walgreen’s.

 

Although Soto did not think De La Cruz was the right match for her daughter, she supported the couple and even offered De La Cruz encouragement when the couple went through their separation.

 

“I told him to give her time,” said Soto.

 

Yet there were obvious moments in the couple’s marriage that were trying for Soto. She testified about her frustration of seeing De La Cruz play a handheld video game while his wife was pregnant and having contractions the day their daughter Layla was born.

 

“Instead of concentrating on his wife who was having contractions, he was playing stupid video games,” she said.

 

Multiple witnesses have testified that De La Cruz’s video game hobby was the cause of major problems in the marriage.

 

After the separation, Soto said De La Cruz made it difficult for Gonzalez to retrieve items from the home and refused to sign divorce papers, citing he wanted to make things work — despite making no effort to improve the relationship.

 

She admitted her relationship with her daughter grew tense as Gonzalez may have found herself caught in the middle between a husband in a struggling marriage and a mother who saw her unhappy. The last time Soto talked to Gonzalez was the day before she disappeared. Gonzalez was scheduled to pick up Layla but told her mother De La Cruz asked for one more day.

 

“I said, ‘Julie, that doesn’t sound right. Something is wrong,’” Soto said while crying heavily.

 

She asked Gonzalez if she could accompany her on Friday to pick up Layla, but ultimately Gonzalez told her it would not be necessary. Soto admitted she and her daughter let their guard down.

 

After discovering Gonzalez’s car a day later, Soto said she heard De La Cruz had already reported that Layla had been abandoned by her mother. That immediately made her suspect De La Cruz was somehow involved.

 

“I knew right then he did something to her because Julie would not leave Layla with George.”

 

Soto said she begged De La Cruz to tell him if he knew anything more about what may have happened to Gonzalez, but he would only say, “She will be back.”

While on the stand, Soto also said she was frustrated with the Austin police investigation and sought media attention because she felt enough was not being done. Her frustration grew when a detective told her that because of Gonzalez’s age, at 21 years old, she was allowed to leave on her own free will.

 

“I asked them, ‘How do you know she left?’” said Soto.

 

The state rested their case Tuesday, and closing arguments could be heard Wednesday. Prosecutors are trying to prove De La Cruz killed Gonzales and covered his tracks.

 

According to an inmate in the Travis County Jail sometime in 2013, De La Cruz cried as he described a physical altercation between himself and his estranged wife Julie Ann Gonzalez. The inmate said De La Cruz shared the story with him how Gonzalez fell and hit her head, rendering her bleeding and unconscious at his home.

 

That inmate, whom the court asked media not to identify, was housed in the same facility with De La Cruz. While on the stand, the inmate said whenever asked about his reasons for being in jail, De La Cruz did not want to speak about it. De La Cruz drew a picture one time, recalled the inmate, which eluded to ‘things women make men do.” But the most intriguing part of the inmate’s testimony was his description of conversation about the fight.

 

According to the inmate, De La Cruz was “venting” and hesitant to talk about what happened. But he said De La Cruz did share with him the reason for the fight was because of another man Gonzalez had expressed interest in for a romantic relationship.

 

“I know that she got knocked out and he was freaking out,” said the inmate. He testified when Gonzalez tried to call for help, De La Cruz stopped her according to the jail conversation.

 

The defense immediately tried to discredit the inmate and his testimony by pointing to a criminal record which includes time served for burglaries and drug possession. They also questioned whether or not the inmate received leniency or benefits in exchange for his testimony. The inmate was adamant he had not received any benefits since setting up the meeting with a detective through his attorney. A reduction in one of the charges against him had nothing to do with his testimony according to the inmate, a claim which made the defense very skeptical.

 

“Whether you believe it or not, I didn’t care about a deal. There’s a little girl involved,” said the inmate about his motivations for testifying.

 

After his testimony, Sgt. Trina Hampton with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office took the stand. She oversees activities in jail and said the previous witness and De La Cruz were in the same facility — meaning they would have had access to speak with each other.

 

Cell phone expert

 

A wireless expert paid by the state to examine the case said connections to Gonzalez’s cell phone showed uncharacteristic activity, and many of the connections following her disappearance came in the vicinity of De La Cruz’s home.

 

Jim Cook accessed usage records from Gonzalez’s and De La Cruz’s cell phone, as well as De La Cruz’s Xbox system. In a six-month period prior to her disappearance, Gonzalez’s cell phone would show a pattern of arriving at De La Cruz’s home, but leaving within a matter of minutes. On March 26, 2010, the day of her disappearance, Cook testified her phone was tracked in the vicinity of De La Cruz’s home for more than three hours. Additionally, after 10:50 a.m. on that day, there were 27 cell connections from Julie’s phone with 22 coming in the vicinity of De La Cruz’s home.

 

Later that night around 8 p.m., Gonzalez’s cell phone was tracked in the vicinity of Best Buy — where receipts show De La Cruz made a purchase at the same time, according to Cook.

 

The day after her disappearance, Cook said Gonzalez’s phone pinged off a tower it had never pinged off of before, and De La Cruz’s phone also pinged off that tower. The tower is in the vicinity of an apartment belonging to De La Cruz’s friend, a place where earlier testimony indicated De La Cruz used Wi-Fi to access Gonzalez’s account.

 

The state is trying to show De La Cruz may have used Gonzalez’s cell phone and sent texts or made postings about running away to Colorado.

Monday’s testimony

 

Forensics experts testified on Monday that five days after Gonzalez went missing, someone accessed both her and her husband’s Myspace pages — just seven minutes apart — using the same IP address.

 

Prosecutors say De La Cruz might be the one behind postings on Gonzalez’s page, saying she was running away to Colorado.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.statesman...for-geor/nkzq7/

 

George De La Cruz found guilty of killing Julie Ann Gonzalez

5:59 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, 2015

JAZMINE ULLOA

 

5:55 p.m.: George De La Cruz has been found guilty of murder in the March 2010 disappearance of his estranged wife, Julie Ann Gonzalez.

 

De La Cruz faces between five years to life in prison.

 

Gonzalez’s mother, aunt and sister, who were sitting in the front row of the courtroom, shed tears following the announcement of the verdict.

 

Judge Cliff Brown then released the jurors for the evening, and asked them to return at 9 a.m. Thursday for the sentencing phase.

 

Sandra Soto, Gonzalez’s mother, later cried out: “What did he do with her? That is all I want to know. Where is she?”

 

Gonzalez disappeared in March 2010.

 

Outside the courtroom, Soto later said that the verdict gave her no closure. “This has never been about George,” she said. “This has always been about finding Julie.

 

5:50 p.m. update: After nearly seven hours of deliberations, jurors have announced that they have reached a verdict in the murder trial of George De La Cruz.

 

More than 40 people are waiting in the courtroom for lawyers and the judge to arrive before the verdict is read. Most of the spectators are friends and family of Julie Ann Gonzalez.

 

Prosecutor Monica Flores has asked family members to keep their emotions contained regardless of the verdict.

 

Noon Wednesday: Jurors have begun their deliberations in the trial of George De La Cruz, charged with murder in the 2010 disappearance of his estranged wife, Julie Ann Gonzalez.

 

De La Cruz, 27, is facing up to life in prison if convicted.

 

Sandra Soto, Julie Ann Gonzalez’s mother, speaks to reporters outside the courtroom after George De La Cruz was found guilty of murder. She said the verdict did not bring her closure and she still wants to know what happened to her daughter.

 

His defense lawyers on Wednesday rested their case without presenting any witnesses. The Travis County state courtroom then quickly filled up with more than 70 people in anticipation of closing arguments, leaving some family members and friends to stand in the back.

 

In a trial that began April 13, the state has sought to prove De La Cruz killed Gonzalez and staged her disappearance, sending messages and posts from her phone and social media accounts in an attempt to convince everyone she ran away. But investigators have not found her body, and De La Cruz’s defense lawyers have contended there is not enough evidence to secure a conviction.

 

Before jurors Wednesday, prosecutors Monica Flores and Gary Cobb sought to put together all the pieces of their theory. They pointed to cell phone records that showed Gonzalez’s phone had remained near De La Cruz’s South Austin home in the hours after she went missing on March 26, 2010.

 

They cited wireless network activity to show someone had accessed her Myspace account within minutes of logging into De La Cruz’s account from an unsecured network near his friend’s home. And they reminded the jury of surveillance video that captured him using her credit cards.

 

Above all, prosecutors said, De La Cruz had a motive.

 

Gonzalez had been a responsible and bright 21-year-old mother who had a job, had just bought a car and cared about nothing more than her daughter, Layla. She was ready to move on from De La Cruz, prosecutors said, and he had not wanted that to happen.

 

Her loved ones “all lost someone because Julie Ann placed too much trust in George De La Cruz,” he said. “You cannot make that same mistake.”

 

Yet, defense lawyers Robert McCabe and Keith Lauerman contended that prosecutors had left too many loose ends and too many unanswered questions. They attacked the state expert’s analysis, raised questions about its witnesses and said the timeline prosecutors had offered was impossible.

 

De La Cruz, who was described as an immature and irresponsible heavy video game player, would not have had the time or wherewithal to clean his home, dispose of his estranged wife’s remains and dig a hole in his backyard to bury her — all before he was captured on the security camera footage shopping with their daughter, McCabe said.

 

“Convictions are about knowledge,” the attorney argued. “You convict on fact not fantasy. You convict on logic not emotions.”

 

When you don’t, he told jurors, innocent people end up in prison.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.statesman...a-cruz-i/nk2XP/

 

George De La Cruz gets life in prison for killing Julie Ann Gonzalez

12:05 p.m. Thursday, April 23, 2015

Jazmine Ulloa

 

11:48 p.m. update: George De La Cruz was sentenced Thursday morning to life in prison for the 2010 disappearance of his estranged wife, Julie Ann Gonzalez.

 

In the audience, Gonzalez’s friends and family members let out low exclamations of relief. “Yes, yes,” her mother said.

 

A Travis County jury recommended the life sentence after a short deliberation, and Judge Cliff Brown made the life sentence official.

 

Following the sentencing, Juan Soto, Gonzalez’s uncle, took the stand to give his victim impact statement and angrily cursed at the defendant. “I can’t stand the sight of you,” he said.

 

There were angry exchanges as George De La Cruz’s family members shouted out, “We love you, George!”

 

Deputies asked De La Cruz’s family members to leave the courtroom. “Nobody else needs to go to jail.”

 

Outside the courtroom, De La Cruz’s family members said the search for Julie Ann should continue. “She is still alive.”

 

11:10 a.m.: Jurors have begun deliberating on a sentence for George De La Cruz, convicted of murder in the 2010 disappearance of his wife, Julie Ann Gonzalez.

 

During the punishment phase of his trial Thursday, his defense lawyers asked jurors for compassion, pointing to his young age and lack of criminal history. But prosecutors said De La Cruz had carefully planned the slaying and disappearance of his estranged wife, and has yet to reveal where he disposed of her remains.

 

The facts of the case are such that he merits a life behind bars, they contended.

 

“Make no mistake — he had some forethought,” Assistant District Attorney Monica Flores said. “Hold him accountable for his act and send a message to the community.”

 

The disappearance of Julie Ann Gonzalez garnered national attention when it first made headlines five years ago. And in a trial that began April 13, the state sought to prove it had all been concocted by De La Cruz, who killed his estranged wife, then sent messages and posts from her phone and social media accounts in attempts to convince everyone she ran away.

 

De La Cruz’s defense lawyers contended there wasn’t enough evidence to even prove she was dead. But jurors convicted the 27-year-old Wednesday following nearly seven hours of deliberations.

 

He faces between five to 99 years in prison.

 

More than two dozen people sat in the audience Thursday, as on the witness stand, Gonzalez’s mother and aunt described Gonzalez as a thoughtful and caring young woman who went out of her way to help others. She had a strong relationship with her family and often took care of her grandparents.

 

Her loss was felt deeply, they said.

 

“She didn’t hate George,” her aunt, Dora Soto, testified. “She just didn’t want him to cause her any problems.”

 

De La Cruz had only one prior criminal offense, a driving while intoxicated charge that was reduced to obstruction of a passageway.

 

The only witness to take the stand in his defense was his mother, Victoria De La Cruz. She said her son had grown up in a stable home and had not had any problems in school. He did not have any mental health issues and had not been physically or sexually abused, she testified.

 

She asked jurors for mercy, saying her son had been her helping hand after her divorce from her father. Layla, his daughter with Gonzalez, loved him, Victoria De La Cruz said.

 

“Everywhere he went, she went,” she said. “Layla has suffered a lot.”

[Deborah]

Julie is still missing.

 

http://www.txdps.sta.../20104:02:08PM'

 

 

 

 

 

 

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