Police searching for missing girl after her sister was found locked in a closet starving for weeks
AUSTIN, Texas (Gray News) – Police in Austin, Texas, are searching for a young girl who vanished in 2017 after her mother was recently arrested for allegedly locking another malnourished child in a closet for weeks.
On Tuesday morning, the Austin Police Department announced they are looking for Ava Marie Gonzales, who was last seen in December 2017 when she was 2 years old.
Ava would be 9 years old now, police said.
Ava was in custody of her mother, Virginia Gonzales, when she went missing, police said.
Gonzales was arrested on April 24 for serious injury to a child in a separate case, records show.
According to a report from KEYE, Austin police responded to a 911 call on April 3 for a 7-year-old girl who was found locked in a closet and starving.
An arrest affidavit says officers found the severely malnourished girl barricaded in a closet.
KEYE reports that the 7-year-old victim was found soiled and weighed only 29 pounds. The child had reportedly been confined to a 3-foot-by-2-foot closet for approximately a month and given only “one corn dog and a 1/2 cup of water a day.”
Doctors have determined the girl suffered “moderate to severe cerebral atrophy” from prolonged starvation – brain damage from which she will never recover.
Six other children, ranging in age from 2 to 14 years old, were also found in the apartment, but police said they are in good physical condition. Police also noted there was plenty of food in the apartment.
Police said Gonzales is currently in custody for the case involving her malnourished 7-year-old daughter found in the closet.
Officers said they are “seriously concerned” about the welfare of the missing child, Ava, “given the circumstances in which Ava’s younger sibling was found.”
Ava is described as a Hispanic female with straight brown hair and brown eyes. Officials shared photos of Ava from when she was last seen at age 2, and they shared an age-progression photo of what she might look like now at age 9.
Anyone with information regarding Ava’s whereabouts is asked to email [email protected] or provide information anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 512-572-8477.
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