Candlelight Vigil Crowd for Baby Gabriel - Pray for Him, Bring Him Home

January 25, 2010. Scottsdale Arizona: Missing Tempe baby Gabriel Johnson, age eight months, was honored by a candlelight vigil of hope and prayer last night, Sunday, on the south soccer field at Chapparal Park. ABC15 and other news media covered the vigil that attracted about 150 family members, friends, and supporters who are praying for Baby Gabriel and his safe return home to his father, Logan McQueary, 25.

McQueary's ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Johnson abducted their fair-haired, blue-eyed baby boy allegedly because McQueary refused to agree to put him up for adoption. 'Persons of interest' in the 'missing person' case, Jack and Tammi Smith, had hoped to adopt Gabriel. Among all Johnson's lies, investigators cannot sort out whether she murdered her baby- as she told McQueary- or if she gave him away, as she told the police and FBI, or sold him. Missing Baby Gabriel was last seen, with his mother, on December 26, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas.

Before the somber candlelight vigil of hope and prayer was to begin at 6pm, 'Missing Child' flyers with photos of Baby Gabriel were passed out. Each attendee took a badge to wear that bore a photo of Baby Gabriel and the message: 'Pray for Baby Gabriel, bring him home'. A framed portrait of McQueary with newborn Baby Gabriel in his arms stood on a table. Near the portrait sat a guestbook in which attendees wrote words of heartfelt hope. A woman from Queen Creek gave McQueary a small teddy bear to give to Baby Gabriel upon his safe return.

With portraits of Gabriel in view and with family, friends, and supporters clasping lit white candles before him, McQueary said, "I want to thank each and every one of you for being here." He said in a public plea, "Just tell us where he is. Maybe these people are out there and don't want to give him up. We just don't know. We want him back safe. If someone out there has him, we want these people to know he has a family who loves him."

Next to grandson McQueary, Dorothy Woodard, seated in a chair, pled, "Please, please, please- just think about what you've seen, what you've done and what you've heard, and if you know of anything out there, call police. We need that little boy. The whole family needs that little boy. We're not giving up. If someone out there has him, we want you to do the right thing."

McQueary's Aunt Kelli McQueary, who with her husband Will, had arranged the candlelight vigil of hope, said at the vigil's close, "We can never say thank you enough for the support we've received from all over the world." With a last prayer of hope, seven of McQueary's cousins each released a large star or flower balloon into the night sky, representing six cousins who couldn't be there. McQueary released a shiny green star for Baby Gabriel.

When asked by an ABC15 reporter after the vigil about what Johnson had told McQueary- that she had killed their baby- McQueary said, his expression sad, "I think she might be capable of it but I don't want to believe that she did." McQueary went on to praise the investigators who have been working night and day to find his baby. He said, "I call them as much as... I try not to bug them too much. They get back to me when they can. They've got stuff to do, too. And I understand that. " The reporter asked if he had slept much. McQueary said, "I've been trying to sleep. For these past few nights I've been getting an hour or two... and then I wake up."

A final plea from McQueary that night was, "Call in with one tip. That just might be the way we find him." Although the number of incoming tips as to the whereabouts of missing Baby Gabriel are declining, Baby Gabriel's heart-wrenching story is traveling far and wide. E-mails of support have reached the McQueary family from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa.

Investigators are using data from the GPS unit found in Johnson's abandoned Oldsmobile to retrace her movements. They are also using data from computers used by Johnson shortly before her arrest. McQueary has not visited Johnson in jail. He believes she would not tell him the truth about their baby.

^{Sources: KPHO Vigil Held for Missing Baby Gabriel. East Valley Tribune Candlelight Vigil Held for Missing Infant. View the slideshow of the candlelight vigil held for Baby Gabriel here.}