In a concerning turn of events for one of Texas’ most heartbreaking recent child ab**e incidents, police have revealed that the mother of a 7-year-old girl discovered starving and barricaded inside a closet last month had another child—one that went missing seven years ago and was never reported.
33-year-old Virginia Gonzales was arrested on April 3, after her mother discovered the severely malnourished granddaughter hidden inside a closet of Gonzales’ Del Valle apartment. The closet had no lighting or ventilation, and the child was reportedly kept there for “weeks at a time” with little food or water.
Austin police are now asking for the public’s help in finding Ava Marie Gonzales, who was last seen in December 2017 when she was 2 years old and under the custody of her mother.
“I just don’t understand how someone can hurt their kid and still be able to live with themselves,” one reader wrote.
Austin police are looking for Ava, a 9-year-old who went missing seven years ago and whose sister was locked in a closet by their mother
Now 9 years old—if alive—Ava’s fate remains unknown.
“Austin Police Department’s Missing Persons (APD) detectives are seriously concerned about Ava’s welfare given the circumstances in which Ava’s 7-year-old sibling was found,” said Detective Russel Constable at a press conference on Tuesday (May 6).
The fact that no missing persons report was ever filed for Ava’s disappearance has put the spotlight not only on her mother, Virginia, but on her entire extended family who reportedly saw her around the end of 2017, before her complete disappearance.
It wasn’t until Virginia’s recent arrest that officers learned what had happened to the missing child. After questioning the mother, authorities learned that she had reportedly given “conflicting information to many different family members” over the years, and has refused to offer clarity on Ava’s whereabouts.
Further complicating matters is the fact that police have not been able to identify or locate Ava’s biological father.
The 7-year-old’s malnourishment was so extreme that specialists fear she’ll never fully recover
The search for Ava was sparked by the discovery of her 7-year-old sister. As Bored Panda previously reported, she was hospitalized after being found weighing just 29 pounds—half the healthy average for her age.
Beyond that, medical professionals at Dell Children’s Medical Center found the 7-year-old to have suffered from dark bruises and dehydration. Her malnourishment also affected her developing brain, which exhibited “moderate to severe atrophy.”
“She will never recover,” the affidavit stated, bluntly.
Court documents also revealed that Gonzales’ other children were complicit in locking the girl in the closet “because she had bladder control issues,” and would “get into stuff.”
For instance, one of the family’s kids said she was only fed one hot dog in the morning and evening, and allowed to drink only half a cup of water.
Image credits: KVUE
The aforementioned closet measured approximately 4 feet 9 by 1 foot 10, and had additional items stored inside, making her living space even smaller. Heavy boxes weighing a combined 75 pounds were used to barricade the door from the outside.
Gonzales’ children had no records of attending school, a fact that went unnoticed by government agencies
Gonzales had been raising eight children in total, ranging from ages 2 to 14. None of them, as police confirmed, have any record of attending school in Texas.
For some observers, the “highly unusual” situation revealed a flaw in the system.
“Even in Texas, where homeschooling is fairly unrestricted, you still expect to see some signs—medical records, vaccinations, a paper trail,” said Shelly Troberman, an attorney with a background in Child Protective Services (CPS).
“How many mandatory reporters came into this child’s life and dropped the ball?” she asked.
Image credits: FOX 7 Austin
According to CPS, all seven surviving children found in the apartment have since been removed from Gonzales’ custody and placed in foster care. Confidentiality laws prohibit CPS from commenting on whether the family had prior contact with child welfare services.
As for Ava, the missing 9-year-old, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-progressed image of what she might look like today, urging the public to come forward with any leads.
People possessing information that could lead to Ava’s whereabouts are encouraged to write to ava@austingtexas.gov
“Probably no longer with us.” Netizens speculated on the status of the missing child on social media
