The Twisted Mother Who Tortured Her Own Baby | Where Is Baby Gabriel?

The Twisted Mother Who Tortured Her Own Baby | Where Is Baby Gabriel?

 

I’ve been doing this  for about four decades and I guess if I had a specialty it’s cops  and robbers, murder and mayhem. But I covered serial killers, I’ve covered  superstars, probably covered enough homicides to fill  up a big city cemetery. I can tell you I don’t remember most of them and  that’s the sad truth.

 But there are those stories that will stay with you forever.  A hotel worker was one of the last to see Elizabeth Johnson and her son Gabriel together. As  Elizabeth fled town she was caught on CCTV without her precious son. The question everyone wants answered,  where is baby Gabriel? And we’ve had a couple of incidents during my my run here in Phoenix, Arizona where we’ve had just a  beautiful child vanish in the blink of an eye.

 The search continues for missing baby Gabriel. The world came  to know him at 8 months old in those photographs that we’ve now all seen so many times and  that is one of those stories because it’s a child and because it’s a young victim and because there is really no definitive answer.  You know, I’ll think about this till the day I die.

On the  family side obviously we want him back. It’s he’s our family member. It’s he’s our kid. He doesn’t deserve that so  he had a good home. We all believe he’s still out there.  If we see him, even if it’s his 18th birthday, I want to look him in the eye and tell him we never quit so so we keep going.

If you somehow  someday see this just know that we want you. You’re not forgotten. You are a huge  part of this family. You’re always welcome. Don’t  think that one day has gone by where not one of us has thought of you. Where one of us has has not  cried for you or one of us has not cared at  all.

We care. We love you. We want you. You’re more than anything to any  to any of us and to all of us. So, if you’re hearing this ever,  just know that you’re welcome.  This case, more than any other in my entire career, stuck  with me. And it’s not that I hadn’t covered child disappearance cases where the child was never found or child disappearance cases that had a a tragic end.

  But in this case, I got to know the family. I spent so much time on it. In fact, it was rare in my career that I actually covered a story  for as long as I did as I did with baby Gabriel. And so, I feel like I’m emotionally invested  in this story. I feel like I I know all of the players and I want there so desperately to be a happy ending to this story.

And you know, years and years and years pass and the chances of that happening, you feel, are getting less and less with every passing year, but there’s still a chance. And that’s all it takes. I think there’s something about missing children that the community just does not forget. It doesn’t matter how old the case is, if it’s solved or unsolved, people want to hear about those kids.

 And in this case, it was a huge, almost fanfare around it at the time. One year ago, Gabriel Johnson vanished  from the Homewood Suites Hotel. Today marks 5 years since Gabriel Johnson >> It’s been 10 years since Gabriel Johnson went missing. Father of Gabriel Johnson still looking for answers. But there’s still so many loose  ends, so many questions.

 So, when I knew I wanted to look into vanished children and focus on a few cases,  baby Gabriel was at the top of my list. Gabriel was a baby. He was a happy baby. You know, he was smiling and stuff. Never really cried a lot and unless he was hungry. Um he was just always smiling and playing and like that’s how I remember him.

 He was just I don’t know, being Gabriel. He liked laying on the floor and playing. He had a little thing with a mat that he laid on with uh went over the top of him with things hanging down  and he loved, you know, playing with those and batting at it and that was one of the many toys that  uh he he liked the most.

 He was always, you know, just happy whenever you put him down there. For Logan, I feel like around the holidays, birthdays,  stuff like that, he gets more closed off, I feel like,  because he’s trying to be strong. He’s trying to show that it doesn’t affect him. When in all reality, it does, because when it affects him, it affects the whole family.

And  we can see the mood change. We can see the pain. Would you say in his eyes? Because you want to be happy and you want to live that moment with your kids  and your family and your friends and everything, but it’s hard whenever one person’s missing. Gabriel was always smiling.

 He was just this cute little baby. He looked just like Logan. And um  I remember he would come over and my aunt Kathy  would you know sit him on her lap and bounce him up and down and he’d just giggle and laugh and um he just had these stunning blue eyes that you could tell were just taking in everything. And he’s just a happy baby.

 You know, despite his mom leaving him in a crib and not taking care of him he was still just he’s just a happy baby. And he lit up when he saw Logan. He didn’t light up when he saw Elizabeth. But he would light up when Logan would come into the room. That was just that was his baby. Gabe was Logan’s baby. And I think a lot of times it’s oh Elizabeth made her baby disappear.

 No, she didn’t. She made Logan’s baby disappear. Elizabeth and I we’ve known each other for a long time. Both Elizabeth and Robert, her twin brother, they grew up on the next street over from me. We we have all the same friends. We grew up with all the same people. They were a grade behind me in my brother’s grade.

We hung out all the time. So, I knew them quite well, both of them. Uh Elizabeth and my relationship uh was a little bit rocky. You kind  of had to be careful what you said to her certain points in time cuz she would she would get mad. >> I do know that Elizabeth used  to go on these rage rampages where she would just destroy things in the house.

There was one time um she cut up all of his clothes  and poured bleach on his clothes. She called the police and said that he did it. And when he showed up, he said, “Look at the clothes that are destroyed. These are my clothes that are destroyed. Nothing of hers is touched. I didn’t do this.

” And there was always examples of where she was the aggressor. She’d call the police  but they would side with her. She’d just spin this tale of what he did. First impression on Elizabeth Johnson was that she was someone that had gone through a lot in her life. Her mom passed away when she was young, lived with grandparents, lived in foster care.

She just seems like somebody that was just looking to belong, to have her own family. Then we come to find out a little bit more of how unstable she is, especially when you’re talking about Logan. Just kind of thought it was normal for her to get mad and then we just kind of get over it and get on and be okay for another week or two and then something else would happen.

So. And this was all before she was pregnant? Yeah, that was before she was pregnant all that stuff happened. Maybe 6 months we were together and then she found out that she was pregnant. I I asked Logan one time, I said, she slept with a knife under her pillow, why? And he said, well, she had lived in foster care.

 So that was that was her protection. That’s what she got used to was having that knife under the pillow. Most men I think it would have scared the hell out of them and they would have ran out the door. He he loved her so much that he just he worked so hard to, you know, make this life with her and then when they found out Gabe was coming, he got his act together.

 He stopped drinking, he took care of all like the legal stuff he had going on and he just really wanted to make that family work. And you know, there were times he’d come home from work and Gabriel would have been in the crib for hours and his his diapers were soiled and dirty and he hadn’t eaten. And that just shows that Elizabeth just she didn’t care how she treated Gabe and she didn’t care how she treated Logan and that was pretty apparent all through their relationship is that she wanted him to do what she wanted him to do and if it wasn’t that

then she was going to  make him pay for it. One time she got mad because he was in a bouncer. Like we had this little bouncer that he  sat in kind of like up in an angle and he got you know buckled in. And he could sit there bouncing him and just watch TV. And easiest thing in the world, you know? But if he started crying, she went over there one time and like she hit the back of it and she flipped him over onto his face,  you know? And he was strapped in.

 He couldn’t He was just a baby. And he hit his face on the ground. Like I picked him up  real fast cuz he was screaming. “Why did you do that?” “Why, I didn’t mean to. I just meant to bounce on it to shut him up.” And it’s like just different  things like that. Just You knew that she didn’t really like him.

Uh has there ever been a time that uh that he ever hurt Gabriel? Uh even by accident? No, he didn’t. Um was there a time that that you know maybe Gabriel uh flipped over got flipped over by accident, anything like that? Yes, he’s fallen off the  couch once or twice. Okay. He fell in Logan’s lap cuz he was sleeping.

Okay. Was it So that was just something There was never a time where there was something where where you sort of felt it was your fault that something happened to Gabriel. Okay. Elizabeth really didn’t want to have  kids. She had had a rough upbringing. Um there had been tragedy in her life.

 She had gone through foster care with her twin brother.  And she had had a hard time and she never wanted to have a child and  have that child have the same experience. I was a mess then. My life was a mess then. Like I can’t [clears throat] you know, be in a normal like  I don’t know life. I couldn’t give him normal stability.

I’m I’m just  up and down. With jobs, with relationships, like and I realized that and I don’t want to like put that on  a baby. You know, grow grow up in that with my stress and my problems. And just me. You know, I felt guilty. Being with Logan, she changed her mind and they ended up having Gabriel, but after he was born, I think Elizabeth had a lot of postpartum depression.

And it was a very hard time for her, and sometimes rage would take over in her, and sometimes they just had [clears throat] a really really difficult relationship. This case is a good example of some different ways we should handle things. Um starting let’s start with this young couple, this young woman who clearly was having issues in connecting with this child.

 If more people had recognized that or saw it, and and I understand I I believe she was actually getting some help through the doctors, but if more people could recognize that she was disconnected  from the child, often having Logan take him, um maybe she could have gotten more help, or maybe we could have given more help to Elizabeth for her own upbringing, or the things that she was dealing with, uh the mental health issues that she has.

 I absolutely believe that in her own wounded way, Elizabeth Johnson loved and loves the child  that she gave birth to, Gabriel Johnson. She chose the name Gabriel, I understand, because it was an angel’s name. And even though by all reports she had not wanted to be a mother, she had wanted to terminate the pregnancy,  I think that she did love her baby.

Logan had asked his father to pick  Gabriel up from the daycare, and um his father went and got Gabriel from daycare, which was not uncommon, but then Elizabeth reported that Logan’s father had kidnapped Gabriel, and the police got involved, and they had to return Gabriel to Elizabeth.  It was just too much, like I knew that he needed a different environment, and I saw to that.

 Logan decided that he was done. That he had had enough of the fighting with Elizabeth, and he wanted to break up. Um it was his intention to break up with Elizabeth, but to continue to care for Gabriel. Um [snorts] but he broke up with Elizabeth, and at the time Elizabeth was upset, and she told him to leave, and she told him to take Gabriel with him.

So, it was kind of an all of a sudden thing. Gabriel was crying, and she yelled at me, and she said, “Shut this [ __ ] thing up.” And I got mad at that. And I was like, “Don’t talk about him like that.” And she’s like, “Don’t tell me what to do.” And I was like, “Well, I’m leaving. I’m not staying here with you screaming and yelling at me to, you know, have him be quiet when I’m trying to get him to be quiet.

” And he was he was just crabby that day. And so, I said, “I’m going to my grandma’s.” And she knew exactly where I was going. Went to my grandma’s, and we hung out there for we were there for like 4 hours. And then as soon as that happened, Elizabeth reported that Logan had kidnapped Gabriel, and the police required Logan once again  to return Gabriel back to Elizabeth.

 He told me he was going to start to be right back, and he was mad at me, so he decided to mess with me and use the child to upset me. And he disappeared for hours. I was freaking out thinking, you know, maybe they got in a car accident. So, I’m calling the police, and they’re telling me there’s no car accidents anywhere.

 He didn’t even take the diaper bag, so I’m worried maybe he doesn’t have any food, doesn’t have any diapers. It’s going on 4 hours. I’m freaking out. And yes, he did in my eyes kidnap the baby. And I got all of these. So, this is a couple days before this incident. And then I  get a phone call from the police, and they say, “Logan, you need to listen  to me very carefully.

” And I was like, “What’s going on?” And they’re like, “Logan, you need to bring Gabriel back home to Elizabeth.  Cuz if we have to come and find you, then you’re going to be put in handcuffs.” And I said, “Why? You know,  can I explain to you what’s going on, what just happened?” And he’s like, “No, Elizabeth called the police and said Gabriel  was missing.

” And this is where the custody issues first come in because even though Logan is listed as the birth father on the birth certificate, >> [snorts] >> in Arizona, he technically didn’t have legal custody rights  at that time. So, even though they were in a fight and Gabriel is his son, they’re forced to return Gabriel back  to Elizabeth.

 And I had no clue, you know, why this was going on.  So, I told the police officer, “I’m not going back there by myself.” I said, “If if anything, can you meet me there?” And he said, “Yeah.” He’s like, “I’m sorry, sir. Yeah, I can’t do anything about this. In the state of Arizona, if you’re not married, the mother automatically has full custody of the child.

  And you have to get your father’s rights established in in court before you can do anything.” So, she automatically pretty much gets to say everything that happens to him and what happens to him. And this is the first time I ever heard about this. I had no clue.  We go up to the door and knock on the door, and Elizabeth I went to hand him, you know, Gabriel’s car seat, and she she didn’t even want him.

And she said, “Put him in his crib.” And so, the officer walked in with me and went back to the room, and he stood in the living room while I went in Gabriel’s room, and I kissed him and gave him a hug and put him in his crib, and that’s the last time I saw Gabriel was December 9th of 2009 when I put him in his crib and gave him a kiss.

And then kind of everything happened from there. So, in June  of 2009, and Elizabeth took Gabriel and she left the state. She went to Boston to visit her grandmother who lived there. But, she didn’t tell Logan where they were going or what they were doing. And so, he didn’t know where they were.  And while there, she changed her mind and decided she wanted to come home.

But, unfortunately, on her way home in a layover in Indianapolis, she met a woman by the name of Tammy Smith. And Tammy Smith is an intervening factor in this case that may have  changed the course of the lives of all of the people involved. Tammy was a is a very interesting character in this.

 Sort of a  gregarious sort of, you know, out there  kind of person. And she insinuated herself into this story,  I would say, early on when she noticed Elizabeth with this beautiful little baby in an airport. Well, the story goes is that Tammy Smith met Elizabeth at an airport and Elizabeth was this  frazzled, upset mother of an infant.

And Tammy being the kind, godly woman she was, went and offered her help. Help me, Jesus. Okay, so how has this affected me and my children? Tammy Smith being the person that she is, thought that this was a sign from God and that she should raise this child. And she was going to hatch a plan with Elizabeth to make it happen.

It affected us differently before, but as we’ve gone through the years, Um, it’s we’ve realized that it’s given us major PTSD. >> [snorts] >> Um, I had been in some car accidents also and probably didn’t leave my house for about 2 and 1/2 years. So, on December 9th, 2009, is about where this  whirlwind story began.

So, Elizabeth reached out to Tammy Smith for the first time since June of 2009.  Here she is calling me at 10:00 at night. Do you remember me, the girl from the airport? She gave Gabriel to Tammy Smith.  And when they met, what we discovered later through the investigation, is that Tammy Smith had her fill out guardianship paperwork.

 But, there was a place on the paperwork for the father’s signature, and  she deleted that and had Elizabeth sign that. It seemed like she just wanted to throw him at us. Like, she couldn’t get rid of him fast enough.  I made sure that we had that paperwork signed. I made her um, go with us to the bank and notarize it because I’m a mother,  and I don’t know how any mom can just hand over their baby and just say  goodbye, you know? So, I wasn’t I wasn’t going to take my chances with her.

But, I did eventually. Big win. Tammy, you know,  certainly had her seemed to have her own itinerary,  her own agenda throughout much of this. She wanted that child. She uh, she and her husband,  Jack, got a big nice home up north of Phoenix, and uh, older couple,  and they seemed very interested Tammy seemed very interested in adopting uh, baby Gabriel.

But, Tammy suddenly is a player in all of this. What Elizabeth told me in the airport about what was happening was  it was just a lot of drugs and um, fighting, and immediately was that he was a felon a drug addict taking everything that she owns and she works and he doesn’t and she was afraid that when she came home from the airport she would have nothing left that he would have sold it all for drugs.

 The first time I heard that Elizabeth she wanted to adopt him out to a couple Tammy and Jack Smith. Well, I didn’t know them. I didn’t know their name. I didn’t even know that she wanted to adopt him out. I said no, I’m not going to I’m not signing any paperwork. I’m not doing anything. I said I filed for full custody and that’s when she exploded on me and started hitting me and just kept hitting me.

And that’s why we got in argument then. And when the police came she said that I kidnapped him again and then we went through that whole fiasco for 5 hours and then they released us and then that’s when we found out that Tammy and Jack already had Gabriel. What you knew of Tammy at that time and what you saw of Tammy? What was the thought process that you were going through with Tammy and Jack? They’re a loving lucky being that have you know a lot of love inside of her.

You know, they’re situated there. Established, they’re you know, a well sound in body and got their life together, they’re stable, they have a house, they have jobs and business. They have a community, you know, they go to church, they have family, they have everything that I don’t have. I have nothing.

 We had the little bathtub, you know, set up with the sink so we can take and do the little spray, you know. Had to help bathe him and stuff and he loved taking his baths. I was super excited to have a little brother and I remember being told not to get close and being told he might not stay forever. We don’t know yet. But I wanted him to stay forever and I loved him very much.

Uh he was my baby brother and I don’t remember much. I remember we would dress him up. I remember when we got to we went to take Christmas pictures with him and it was funny because I think he pulled Santa’s beard. And this was taken by Tammy Smith when she had him in December. And so were these ones. This was his first Christmas with Tammy Smith.

Tammy and Jack took him to see Santa Claus for the first time. I remember being very confused as to why he disappeared. Um, even honestly though, I still kind of consider him a little brother because he meant a lot to me. And I would even when I was 7 years old, I would remember telling my babysitter he was my brother.

 He just went bye-bye for a while. Um, so I mean, there’s that, yeah. I still pray about him and think about him all the time. Elizabeth showed up at court. Tammy and Jack Smith were with her. They did not come into the courtroom, but they were at the courthouse with her. The judge had a conversation with them and he told them very sternly, you know, “Don’t engage in using this child as a pawn.

” You need to knock it off and quite frankly, I’m going to put it as bluntly to you as I can. It’s time for the two of you to grow up. The judge tells me that I need to stop being petty and I try to explain to him everything that’s happened. Um, I’ve gone to work and put the child in the bedroom about 4:00 in the afternoon, come home and she’s in bed, go check on the baby and she never checked on him or he was still on the floor in the room.

 She just thought that he was sleeping the whole time, didn’t feed him or change his diaper. This happened once or more than once? Um, that happened once and there was another incident where came home and she got mad that I was late coming home from work and I came home and she’d already left and left the baby there.

 And the baby isn’t in her care, it’s with another family. All right. Okay. Um is the baby in your care or is the baby with another family? >> He’s in my care and everything you’re saying is not true. About CPS, he filed that in retaliation and it was closed the next day. >> Yeah, well, the timing is curious. Yeah, timing’s curious.

 I I will acknowledge that. >> They were given joint custody, which meant that Logan was allowed to pick Gabriel up on December 20th and he was supposed to have him through Christmas Eve. However, Elizabeth Johnson, Tammy Smith, Jack Smith walked out of the courthouse with a completely different plan. This is Logan McQuery going to pick up Gabriel Johnson, my son, at Elizabeth’s mobile home.

 It’s 7:59 in the morning. I’m walking up to the door. Nobody’s answering the door. Nobody seems to be home. Logan shows up one  day to see his son and uh the home of Elizabeth and the baby is vacant.  They’re gone. And she cleared out her bank accounts and she told the Smiths, “Bring Gabriel to me.

” And she met them in a parking lot of a church  and she took custody of Gabriel. And then she took off. She and Gabriel  left the state. I’m allowed to move. I’m allowed to move. And I’m allowed to move and I don’t think that he  has rights. You don’t care about this baby. You don’t care about me. You’re in trouble.

That’s what this is all about. You don’t care about Gabriel one bit. So, good luck, Logan,  but you won’t ever see him again. And I’m allowed to move. I’m allowed to get a job. I’m allowed to have a normal life and you can’t stop me. So, good luck and goodbye.  So, I called the court and I said, “Hey, look, she’s not here.

 Yeah, everything’s gone. You can see in the windows.”  And he said, “Well, then we’ll have to schedule another court day. That’s the only thing that we can do.”  And so I said, “Basically, I can’t do anything? Like, I have no clue where my son is, where she is. She wasn’t answering  the phone.” So, we just kind of started looking for Finally, Logan gets a phone number for the Smiths  and has contact with them.

 And the Smiths talk him out of trying to reach Elizabeth. So, with Elizabeth, we were definitely um  doing whatever we could to get her back because we knew that she would go to  jail. They lead him to believe that they have Gabriel’s interests at heart. They  lead him to believe that they can convince Elizabeth to come back.

 Is Tammy Smith there? This is her. Tammy Smith, this is Logan McQuery. Who? Logan McQuery. You know, Elizabeth Wait. Yeah, Logan I I’ve been on the computer for about an hour trying to find a number for you or your father. We’ve been freaking out. Please tell me you have the baby in his face. No, we do not.

 I have I have orders from the judge that I have custody of Gabriel. And Do you know where he is? No, Elizabeth, the last time I talked to her was Friday and she said there’s no way in hell you’ll ever talk to your son or see your son ever again. So, based on our investigation, we’ve learned that during that time, Tammy Smith was going on with her plan.

 Now, Elizabeth has left the state. It wasn’t Tammy’s intention, but now that she has, Tammy has done a bunch of research and she’s trying to figure out where can Elizabeth go to take away Logan’s rights  because the court has given him custody rights in Arizona. So, now she’s got to go somewhere else. So, Tammy’s trying to find places where that can happen and she’s trying to encourage Elizabeth to go to Tennessee  where in Tennessee Logan would not have custody rights at that point.

As we were trying to help, um, Logan locate Elizabeth and help  to get Elizabeth back, um, Jack is getting, you know, he’s he’s trying to come up with ideas. Ideas because he’s thinking,  well, um, I have a house in Tennessee and I’m rehabbing it. So, he he called his son and talked to his son and said, “Hey, I have this girl that needs,  you know, that needs a place.

” And he says, “But what I’m what I’m going to do is when she gets there, keep her there and  immediately call me.” And then, boom, we would be able to, um, let let them know exactly where she’s  at. And she said that, um, her adoption lawyer in Tennessee could get, um, a birth certificate saying she gave birth  to the baby.

 Um, she said she had 30 days to be able to turn that in. Say it was a home birth and that she,  you know, no one would know the the couple months difference and, you know, in a few years no one would know what the baby would look like. And it sounded like a plan that made sense to me. Tammy Smith and her husband, Jack, very unique, very odd couple that truly believed that they were going to be able to adopt this child and if they just kind of swindled the father a little bit, it would be a matter of a couple weeks and that they would have

this wonderful child that they could raise on their own. You know, that this is just a story about a lot of people with bad intentions. So, one of the scenarios she came up with was, “You call Logan and tell him that if he signs the paperwork that you and Jack are that he gives his rights away for you and Jack to adopt the baby, then I will come back and bring the baby back.

” So, we called Logan. What she said is if you will sign the papers, the adoption papers, then there’s a 5-day waiting period for you to change your mind. Okay? She said that after days after you sign them, 5 days later she will bring Gabriel to us. If I were you, I certainly wouldn’t want my son uh again, I hope this is not racial profiling here, but I wouldn’t want my son growing up in a trailer park.

 And and and and again, I don’t and I don’t mean that to to to be disrespectful to them because there’s a lot I’m sure there’s a lot of loving people that just have any other fault other than this. You want to uh try to do this um and do it quick. Um I’m not talking about signing papers. I’m not I’m talking about getting together and and discussing the possibilities of that.

 Again, not to be redundant, I’m just trying to say to you that that um that the only line we’ve got is this right now and and and please don’t mess it up. Tammy Smith had a preoccupation and an obsession with adding another child to her family. This is well documented during the investigation. Uh she would approach women.

 She posted on various websites looking actively looking for a child. And this case demonstrates and the evidence in this case demonstrated that she was willing to get a child at almost any cost. Over all these months, he would barge in and move in on her, bring his stuff in, and then he’d go missing, but his all his stuff would be there.

 And then he’d come back, you know, 6 weeks later he’d come back. And then yeah, and then he you know, then they’d get in a big old fight, and then he’d steal stuff, and he you know, and then he’d leave, and then he’d come back. And this was at one of those points where he finally left again.

 And she was not having him come back, and he was mad because he wanted to come back. >> And she wanted to put him up for adoption. She’s Yeah, and both of them wanted both of them wanted him up for adoption. And he even told me that that they both did, but he kind of sways off and on sometimes, and so does she sway off and on sometimes.

 So, neither of them have ever been completely together at the same time. And Logan has told you that that he’s wanted he’s he’s thought of it. Okay. >> Yeah, absolutely. And my mind, I never considered adopting Gabriel out. It was just I wanted to try to take care of him, you know, if it  had to be by myself, and you know, help with some of my family, so be it.

 You know, that’s I wanted to try to take care of him myself. I never got the chance. Nobody would give me the chance. Um every now and then he would see the baby and steal money from her, sleep on her couch for a couple nights, and leave as he’s stealing stuff from her. Was Tammy willing to do anything for a baby? No.

 No. I already I already wouldn’t buy a baby. I already wasn’t ready to adopt Gabriel. Tammy Smith, by her own admission to law enforcement, uh made it clear that  her intent was to place pressure on Logan McQueary to give up rights to his child. This was fed by Elizabeth’s stories that she had told Tammy Smith about Logan, which were not true.

Um and  she was misguided in that sense. However, the fact remains is that Logan McQueary had rights to that child.  And he wanted that child. He wanted Gabriel. He wanted to raise him, and he made that clear to Tammy Smith  once he was aware she was in the picture.

 However, Tammy Smith admitted to law enforcement  that even after he was involved, there was this continual pressure for him to give up rights to that child, and the evidence at her trial  uh supported that as well. This is ABC 15 News. >> A family woman on trial accused of playing a role in the case of missing baby Gabriel.

 But, it was a devious plot, you know, and nobody bothered to stop and think,  well, maybe we need to talk to Logan and find out how this, you know, if this story is true or not. Who has the right to take a child from their parent? Who? They thought they did. And the unfortunate thing is I don’t think either one of them are sorry for what they did. At all.

I think they like to blame everybody else for their problems. Um but she said to um basically say that he was a drug addict and um she even tried to say that he hit me but I didn’t want to do that cuz I was like that’s just going too far. >> And it’s just so infuriating that people would just believe what Elizabeth had to say.

And then when Tammy went on Nancy Grace saying all of these things that she he abused her and he did this and it was just it was the story but it was the wrong perpetrator. Elizabeth was the one that was doing all of it and you feel so helpless. Trying to understand that you’ve got two people with incredibly evil motives but in their own mind they’re justifying their actions.

And again, in their I’m sure in both of their minds they thought they were doing the right thing. And that’s really one of the sickest things I think you can come across is that you know, I’m saving a child. I may not be a great mother so maybe I’m giving the child up to a better life. So aren’t I ultimately doing the right thing? Um Tammy’s saying I’m rescuing a child in a terrible situation that she tells me is abusive relationship and I’m getting a child out.

We are the ones who are the heroes of the story. And I’m sure that to this day they feel the same way. They  actually do feel as though they did the right thing. And that’s what’s really scary. Really scary. They do believe that. Elizabeth had  to go from foster care to foster care.

 She didn’t want that for Gabriel. And so as she’s showing  me these things about Logan and telling me all about this and I’m looking at it on my computer screen and I’m thinking, oh my gosh. He will go down that same track. And  so I could easily see where Elizabeth was coming from. Hi, um this is Tammy Smith.

 I’m calling about the case um with Gabriel Johnson. This is I am the lady, my husband and I, who were going to adopt the baby. Anyway, I know he will tell me where the baby is, but he needs to make sure that he is going to be safe before he tells me. And I really like to speak to Judge McBain in order to get some kind of an order.

 I know  they gave the temporary custody to the father. I would really like to speak to Judge McBain in order to get the baby She will tell me where the baby is. I you know, she did  sign the temporary guardianship over to us and I don’t know if that’s still it can still keep it in place so that you know, while we get everything while the parents get themselves together and get their act together, um, you know, maybe the judge can let the baby stay with us since we did have him for a few weeks prior to all of this happening and the father

decided not to sign the papers and so it’s all spiraled out of control. Please give me a call back. >> To Tammy Smith’s credit, she was trying to get Elizabeth to return home as well with Gabriel. So she In some ways, she was trying to get her to go out of state and change jurisdictions, but she was also asking her to come home with Gabriel.

 So she was coming up with some different plans that would serve her purposes, but also let her know where Gabriel was because she wasn’t aware where Gabriel was at the time. She appeared something totally different than she wound up being and we feel quite duped. You know, they would say that they were duped, but they didn’t seem duped to me.

 I don’t know how they portrayed me, but I do know that on Facebook, I could see what they were doing on Facebook and and online and it was like, “Oh my gosh, this woman’s a devil.” And I’m thinking, “Why? Why would somebody think we were bad? We were We did everything we could to help the police to to help Logan to help her come back and do everything we could.

 We were working so hard to get her back. And I didn’t understand like why would people think that we had something to do with this, you know? I’d been calling [snorts] Elizabeth and texting her saying, you know, call me, text me. I just want to know where you’re at. I don’t I want to know what’s going on. Where are you? Where’s Gabriel? And I got no reply.

 And it’d been over a week. >>   >> What? What? Where are you? Where’s Gabriel? I took him to the park.  No, you didn’t. I did. Where are you? I’m sorry, my dad is dead.  You wanted to see him. You were going to make me invisible. You don’t care, okay, bro. You can stop this now. Yes, I do. You do not.

You do. No. You do. You don’t care about me. And I told you you could ride with me anytime. I bring you up to the court, you walk right by us. You never wanted to see him. You never cared about him. You know what I’m capable of. You know what I’m capable of.  You don’t care who I am. You could do this to yourself.

You could have taken care of him with the time you spent with your life.  I can’t take care of Logan. Yeah, you did. Matter of right and I don’t exist anymore. All my identification  is gone. I don’t exist anymore. I’m gone.  You were going to arrest me. I know. Are you at your house?  No, I’m not, Logan.

 Then you’re with those people. No, I’m not. Logan.  Hello. Where is Texas? I don’t know myself.  No, I am going to go to the hospital. Thank you. Thank you for your care. Love you. I don’t care about the children.  I need to go now. He made me do something. He’s going to kill me.  Why did you do this?  No, tell me.

Sorry for disturbing you. Tell me why you did it. Tell me. Hello. I was scared and told you I was going to text you but you know that. I don’t care about my cell phone. I don’t give [ __ ] about myself. He destroyed my life. I haven’t destroyed anything. Yes, you have because he made me kill my baby boy. He made me do this.

 You did not hurt him. Yes, he did. I killed him. I put him in the laundry basket. I put him in the clothes. I put him in the diaper bag and I put him in the trash. You think I can live after that? Nicole?  You can’t because you’re cold hearted.  He hung up the phone.

 He contacted the Tempe Police Department. And while he was at the Tempe Police Department, his phone had run out of battery. When  it powered back up, he was faced with multiple other texts. And then she after that told me that um something you can kiss my ass and  um you’re not going to find his dead little blue body until I’m on a plane leaving the country.

 The police are doing their backwards investigation. And they had discovered that Elizabeth had actually left San Antonio, Texas,  driven her grandfather’s car to a bus station in Tornado, Texas,  and gotten on a bus. And she was located in Miami Beach, Florida, because  fortunately she had gone on and sent three different messages on MySpace.

She had on her camera. On  the camera, there were photographs that she had taken of Gabriel in the hotel room. The last photograph we have of Gabriel Johnson was  December 26th, 2009. Logan called me and he said, “Nancy, you need to turn on the TV.  Turn Turn your TV on right now.

” And so we turned it on and it’s It’s just a moment I’ll never forget. They And there was this story. Sorry. Um and they said that they had found Elizabeth. She was in Miami and she didn’t have Gabriel. It was awful. Elizabeth Johnson speaks for the first time since being arrested. Um ask you, I don’t really know what to say, but everything is so false from the fleeing to everything that she said is so completely false.

 And at this point, this case was all over the media. So it wasn’t just us who wanted to know, it was everybody across the country and out of the country wanted to know what happened to baby Gabriel. After Elizabeth Johnson’s murderous confession, the question still remains, where is baby Gabriel? Bob Johnson, her grandfather, reported that she was struggling with postpartum depression.

 And one report indicated that she had gone off her medications. You know, there are only about 200 child homicides by mothers every year, but about a third of those are committed by mommies who have postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis. So I think the baby is very much at risk. My career with the FBI started in Chicago.

 I was assigned to what they call a violent crimes task force. And so a lot of the cases that I investigated were parental abductions, kidnappings, bank robberies, extortion cases, some of the more violent crimes. Well, we believe one would not travel to Texas of all of all states in the United States, one would not travel to Texas to kill anybody, much less a baby.

Um but  for her to travel from Tempe uh and if she had every intention of harming her child, why didn’t she do it in Tempe? Why didn’t she do it in Arizona or somewhere else? Why travel all the way across state lines through New Mexico all the way to San Antonio to kill her child? That that doesn’t clearly that doesn’t make any sense at all.

 I don’t believe that Elizabeth is a master manipulator. I think that people didn’t give her the credit that she was due for doing something so easy that it would be right in front of their noses, but they would never believe it. Well, I think the Gabriel story is just it’s so incredibly long.

 So, there’s so many twists and turns, there’s so many people involved. Obviously, there’s a kid still missing. So, I don’t believe in my heart or any evidence we ever saw that she killed him. So, until I believe that, I feel people should look for him. After we went to San Antonio, we found out that it’s the leading you know, it’s the number one place for black market adoptions in the whole United States.

San Antonio, Texas. We get calls from women who have placed  babies for adoption with unlicensed baby brokers,  adoption advertisers, adoption facilitators, and sketchy attorneys who flew in from another state, waved paperwork from another state, and literally counted cash out at a hospital bedside, which is a felony in the state of Texas.

 I know that people know it’s going on because I hear it from hospital social workers. We hear it from mothers who got cars in exchange for babies. There are adoptive parents that that think that they can pay college tuition in exchange for a mother signing adoption papers. All these things are illegal, but it goes on all the time. Why do I think Elizabeth ran to San Antonio? At first, I had no idea.

But Yummy Virgin from San Antonio, she had told me that girls come to San Antonio to give their babies up for adoption. When I talked to Elizabeth Duranovich, she explained, you know, San Antonio’s very known for being a black market type of place where you can get  kids, where you don’t have to do an open adoption.

So, then we started talking about why would she do it. So, I asked her, would she do it for money?  And she goes, “No, you can’t give money, but a lot of these parents give gifts.” I know that Elizabeth was found with a ring in Florida that was worth  thousands of dollars.

 I’ve never even seen the ring. I don’t know what it looks like. I just know that that she was found with a ring that was worth  thousands and thousands of dollars that she shouldn’t have had. We received a tip this morning that Elizabeth Johnson would not want to waste any time picking up her belongings at the Tempe  Police Department because they included a ruby ring that is very valuable to her.

 Somebody paid for this baby, and y’all are covering this up. And now everyone wants to say the baby’s dead because the woman lies so many times. You’re going to choose the the dead card? Think about that. He’s out there, and somebody gave a ring for him.