2010.02.02 - Today's Current News - ***NO DISCUSSIONS HERE PLEASE ***

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Would-be adoptive mom arrested in missing baby case
February 2nd, 2010 @ 12:26pm
<snipped>
Tammi Smith, 37, was being taken to Tempe police headquarters and later will be booked into Maricopa County jail on charges of custodial interference, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and forgery, Sgt. Steve Carbajal said.

Gabriel's mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, was arrested Dec. 30 in Florida and is charged in Arizona with kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference. Police say she drove Gabriel to San Antonio from Tempe, stayed about a week, then took a bus to Florida without him.

She has refused to say where the baby is, but told Gabriel's father she killed him and threw his body in a trash bin. She also has said she gave the baby away to a couple in San Antonio.

Article:
http://www.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1259169
 
Scottsdale woman arrested in missing baby case
Posted: Feb 2, 2010 01:49 PM EST
Updated: Feb 2, 2010 04:44 PM EST
<snipped>
Tammi Smith was arrested Tuesday at her Scottsdale home on charges of custodial interference, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and forgery.

Tempe police Sgt. Steve Carbajal says Smith was being taken to the department and would be booked later into Maricopa County jail.

Article:
http://www.kgun9.com/global/story.asp?s=11920181
 
Tammi Smith Arrested in Connection to Baby Gabriel Johnson Disappearance
'Person of Interest' Tammi Smith Insists She Has Nothing to Hide, but Police Believe Otherwise
February 02, 2010
<snipped>
Police have been wary of Tammi Smith and her husband, Jack, from the start of the Gabriel Johnson missing person case and believe that the Smiths know far more than they has been divulged.

Tammi and Jack Smith have appeared on talk shows and current affairs programs, granting interviews and maintaining they have nothing to hide. Police have questioned the couple, searched their home, and gave them polygraph tests. Throughout the ongoing investigation, they have denied any involvement in the disappearance of baby Gabriel Johnson.

Tempe Police would not elaborate on their specific reasons for arresting Tammi Smith, nor would they comment on why she was arrested and her husband was not.

Elizabeth Johnson was extradited from Florida and now is behind bars in Phoenix. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and custodial interference. She has refused to cooperate with police since arriving in Arizona.

Tammi Smith has been booked into a Maricopa County jail.

Article:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2658053/tammi_smith_arrested_in_connection.html?cat=25
 
UPDATED: Hope of finding Baby Gabriel alive fades
Last Update: 5:12 pm
<snipped>
A woman who wanted to adopt an Arizona baby who has been missing for more than a month has been arrested, but police say they don't believe she knows where the child might be.

Tammi Smith was arrested Tuesday at her Scottsdale home on charges of custodial interference, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and forgery.

Gabriel was last seen with Johnson in San Antonio, and police now say hope that he is alive is fading.

Video: Arrest made in Baby Gabriel case 0:54
http://www.woai.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=793203@woai.dayport.com&navCatId=5

Video: Private investigator brought in to help in search for Baby Gabriel 0:44
http://www.woai.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=792371@woai.dayport.com&navCatId=5

Video: Second Arrest In Baby Gabriel Case 1:06
http://www.woai.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=793264@woai.dayport.com&navCatId=5

Article:
http://www.woai.com/news/local/stor...briel-alive-fades/YIUQkrIsSEm6EiZGERJAXw.cspx
 
Arrest made in Tempe, Arizona in connection with baby Gabriel Johnson last seen in San Antonio
February 2, 4:28 PM
<snipped>
Tammi Smith, 37, a lady who wanted to adopt the baby in Arizona before the disappearance, was arrested by Tempe police for various charges in regard to custodial interference in the case of baby.

Smith was arrested on Tuesday, February 2 at 11:10 a.m. at her Scottsdale home.

Smith is being booked into Maricopa County Jail for conspiracy to commit custodial interference, custodial interference and forgery charges.

Reports are coming out that San Antonio police investigators have been searching a local landfill, or have blocked off areas for future searches of the baby.

ABC New reports sources told them authorities do not believe Smith knows the location of the baby, but was arrested for her alleged attempt in an illegal adoption.

Police reported confiscated their phone records and laptop with authority of a search warrant.

In one San Antonio radio talk radio broadcast last month, a police spokesman relayed concern about Smith&#8217;s tendency to tell the too much to the media while authorities were actively pursuing a vigorous investigation.

Eight month old Gabriel Johnson was last seen in San Antonio on Dec. 27, 2009.
resized_gabriel_johnson_baby.jpg


Article:
http://www.examiner.com/x-30789-San...baby-Gabriel-Johnson-last-seen-in-San-Antonio
 
Baby Gabriel's dad to arrive in S.A. in search of son
Posted on February 2, 2010 at 1:01 PM
Updated today at 1:02 PM
<snipped>
The search for Baby Gabriel is becoming even more focused Tuesday.

McQueary says he doesn't think Elizabeth Johnson would have tried to make the 15-hour drive in one night. He plans to stop at hotels along the route, searching for anyone who might have seen her and the baby.

Video: Baby Gabriel's dad to arrive in S.A. in search of son 0:33
http://www.kens5.com/video?id=83363822&sec=547077

Article:
http://www.kens5.com/home/Baby-Gabriels-dad-to-arrive-in-SA-in-search-of-son-83363822.html
 
Gabriel Johnson is Missing: Famous Private Eye Offers to Help Search for Baby Gabriel
Jay J. Armes Ready to Join Investigation for Missing Baby Gabriel
February 02, 2010
<snipped>
A world famous private detective, Jay J. Armes, has offered his services to the family of missing Baby Gabriel Johnson, who has not been seen since December 26. Jay J. Armes usually charges $1 million to take on a case but has offered to search for Baby Gabriel for free.

Jay J. Armes is no stranger to challenges. Armes, ironically, uses prosthetic hands, having lost both hands in an explosion when he was 11 years old. But he refuses to allow the loss to be a disability, having built his private investigation service on hard work and perseverance.

With leads dwindling, Logan McQueary has hit the road in an attempt to retrace Elizabeth Johnson's route to San Antonio, where it is presumed that Gabriel Johnson was either given away, sold, or killed.

He has yet to agree to work with Jay J. Armes. But with Elizabeth Johnson remaining tight-lipped and the only hope of finding Baby Gabriel resting in a long-shot GPS search and, worse, in a landfill search in San Antonio, Logan McQueary may find that he just might have to turn to an agency like that run by Jay J. Armes as law enforcement resources -- over time -- are drawn to more immediate matters. And they will be.

Investigators need a break in the case. Logan McQueary is searching for that break. Jay J. Armes has offered the resources of his private investigation organization, should McQueary need want and/or need them. And as time goes by without the aforesaid break, Armes' services will eventually, and unfortunately, be required.

The old adage, 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth' would apply...
*Much More Info At Link!

Article:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2660743/famous_private_eye_offers_to_help_search.html?cat=8
 
Scottsdale woman arrested in missing baby case
Feb. 2, 2010, 6:58PM
<snipped>
Tammi Smith, 37, was taken to Tempe police headquarters and was expected to be booked into Maricopa County jail on charges of custodial interference, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and forgery, Lt. Mike Horn said.

He said the charges stem from Smith's repeated and apparently desperate attempts to adopt 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson, not from the boy's Dec. 26 disappearance in San Antonio.

Tammi and Jack Smith of Scottsdale had been considered "persons of interest" for weeks in the investigation into the disappearance, but Horn said that's no longer the case.

He said that all of his agency's leads into the disappearance have been turned over to San Antonio police, which is conducting its own investigation.

Jack Smith told The Associated Press that police crossed the line by arresting his wife and trumped up charges against her.

"It's clear that we had nothing to do with this, and why they're trying to make a case against my wife, I don't know," he said. "We have done nothing wrong."

With the case now shifting to San Antonio, speculation continues that police there will search a landfill for the boy's body. Managers of a San Antonio landfill have blocked off an area that might be searched for the baby, but police said they hadn't yet searched the site and decline to say whether they plan to do so.

Article:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6847946.html
 
Search for missing Mesa baby comes to Tucson
Posted: Feb 02, 2010 7:49 PM EST
Updated: Feb 02, 2010 8:49 PM EST
<snipped>
Tuesday the baby's dad, Logan McQueary, came to Tucson to retrace the mother's footsteps. McQueary is stopping at hotels and convenience stores, from here to San Antonio, where he knows the mom and baby ended up at one point. McQueary is handing out fliers, asking questions,.hoping someone will give him a clue to find his son.

McQueary is especially optimistic after today's arrest of Scottsdale resident Tammi Smith.

McQueary has always believed she knows more than she is letting on and now that she's in custody, he's hoping for some answers.

"Maybe she's going to sit in jail and think about exactly what's going on. Maybe she'll come clean with everything that she knows. Maybe it will lead to finding Gabriel. That's what I'm hoping for," he says.

Article:
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=11922784
 
Video: Gabriel's mom seen? 4:20
[ame]http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2010/02/02/ng.gabriel.seen.cnn[/ame]
 
Woman arrested in missing baby Gabriel case
Police say she is not connected to the 8-month-old boy&#8217;s disappearance
updated 8:37 p.m. ET, Tues., Feb. 2, 2010
<snipped>
Tammi Smith, 37, was taken to Tempe police headquarters and was expected to be booked into Maricopa County jail on charges of custodial interference, conspiracy to commit custodial interference and forgery, Lt. Mike Horn said.

He said that all of his agency's leads into the disappearance have been turned over to San Antonio police, which is conducting its own investigation.

Efforts to adopt Gabriel
In a Tuesday court document detailing the charges against Tammi Smith, police describe for the first time the lengths to which she went to adopt Gabriel.

Before Johnson left Arizona with Gabriel, those efforts included repeated phone calls and text messages to his father, Logan McQueary, pressuring him to relinquish his parental rights to the Smiths, according to the probable-cause statement.

Landfill may be searched for boy's body
Smith also tried to change court jurisdiction over Gabriel to Tennessee in an apparent last-minute plan to get Johnson to take the boy there and adopt him out without needing McQueary's approval, thus clearing the way for the Smiths, Horn said.

And on Jan. 4, Smith suggested in a voicemail to the judge in the boy's custody case that he give the Smiths guardianship because Johnson wouldn't return to Arizona with him unless she knew he would be "safe," according to the document.

Today Show Video: Officers join forces, hunt for missing baby 5:51
Jan. 30: With very few leads, police in Tempe, Arizona - 8-month-old Gabriel's home state - are working closely with detectives in San Antonio, Texas - the last place he was seen alive. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports, then TODAY's Lester Holt speaks with former FBI profiler Clint van Zandt and Annalisa Urias, who babysat the boy before he went missing.
[ame="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35158002#35158002"]Today Show Video Player[/ame]

Article:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35208375/ns/today-today_people/
 
Famed private investigator takes on 'Baby Gabriel' case
Posted on February 2, 2010 at 8:50 PM
Updated today at 9:32 PM
<snipped>
The &#8216;Baby Gabriel&#8217; investigation is ramping up this week with a planned search of a San Antonio landfill where police fear the boy's body could have been dumped.

Now there is a new face involved in the case. Jay J. Armes is considered a quirky private eye with a track record of getting results. The eccentric investigator talked about why he is taking on the case as police say leads are drying up.

Armes&#8217; clients include celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor and John Lennon along with royalty from around the world.

Armes is high-profile and high-price fetching between $150,000 to $1 million per case. Nevertheless he says he will search for Gabriel for free.

Armes will not reveal his techniques but says, &#8220;I follow rumors and I get to the bottom of it."

The private eye expects to meet with McQueary in El Paso sometime on Wednesday.

Video: Famed private investigator takes on 'Baby Gabriel' case 2:07
http://www.azfamily.com/video/?id=83410322&sec=507087

Article:
http://www.azfamily.com/news/Gabrie...d-investigator-who-gets-results-83410322.html
 
Arrest made in missing boy case
Posted: 02/02/2010 11:25 CST
<snipped>
Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary of Tempe, was in El Paso on Tuesday and planned to meet with internationally known private investigator Jay J. Armes. &#8220;We will decipher every iota of information,&#8221; Armes said Tuesday morning, adding both he and McQueary are hopeful they'll find Gabriel. &#8220;Right now, I feel that Gabriel is still alive, because there haven't been any sightings of a cadaver.&#8221;

While Armes said a San Antonio police search of an East Side landfill conducted Monday failed to turn up any clues, police spokeswoman Sandy Gutierrez said officials haven't searched the Tessman Road Landfill site.

A segment of the landfill in the 7000 block of Interstate 10 East was blocked off as part of a possible search for Gabriel, said Peg Mulloy, spokeswoman for Arizona-based Republic Services Inc., which owns the 1,000-acre landfill.

Chief William McManus &#8220;has indicated that if something does happen, we'll let everyone know,&#8221; Gutierrez said, &#8220;but we did not search the landfill&#8221; on Monday.

He said a mutual friend told McQueary of Armes' company, and McQueary contacted him recently to ask if he was interested in the case. Armes, whose most famous investigation involved the 1972 return of Christian Brando after a custody-related kidnapping, signed on immediately. &#8220;We've already been following several leads.&#8221;

Article:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/83353172.html
 
Woman Arrested in Baby Gabriel Case
Tuesday February 2, 2010
<snipped>
Tammi Smith was placed in the Maricopa County Jail in connection with the Baby Gabriel investigation.

Smith is in the same jail as the baby's mother, Elizabeth Johnson.

McQueary, the boy's father, is considered by police to be a victim in the case.

Investigators thought that she may have given the baby to a couple in San Antonio, but Gabriel has not been seen and no one has come forward with any information.

"It is a very real possibility that Elizabeth killed Gabriel," said Tempe Lt. Mike Horn said. "We are holding out hope that he's alive, but we have to look at every aspect and investigate everything."

Article:
http://crime.about.com/b/2010/02/02/woman-arrested-in-baby-gabriel-case.htm
 
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