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Missing Baby Gabriel Babysitter Saw Scared Baby; Who was Screaming on Phone?

Come Back Gabriel, Come Back Boy; Wipe the Tears from Our Eyes

Rik Merchant
If Looks Could Kill. Analisa Urias said of Elizabeth Johnson, "When she opened the door, she looked like she wanted to kill me. She looked very angry and upset. She looked like she was basically crazy." Urias is the babysitter whom Johnson found on craigslist.com soon after arriving in San Antonio, Texas. She babysat for eight-month-old Gabriel Johnson on December 21 in Johnson's motel room at HomeGate Studios & Suites. In January 2010, she described her adventure in babysitting to CNN's Nancy Grace. When Grace asked what Johnson's face looked like, Urias said, "Her eyes were- her eyes got very small, her nose was, like, crumpled up and her mouth was, like- it was, like, closed, like, very tightly. She looked mad. She looked angry."

Dressed to Kill. Urias said that Johnson, who has killer looks, was dressed promiscuously as if for clubbing. The blonde, blue-eyed single mom wore a tight midriff-baring top, very tight low-cut jeans, and stiletto heels. This was at 11:45am.

Words of Love. "You're late," said Johnson to Urias. Then she introduced baby Gabriel and told Urias that if he cried, she could 'shut him up' with medicine. As she had often said to Gabriel's dad, Logan McQueary, when referring to baby Gabriel, "Shut that thing up." The little guy was teething and Johnson had already dosed him with Tylenol and possibly put Orajel on his gums. After her terse instructions, she left Urias alone with baby Gabriel.

Food for Thought. There were a few cans of baby food in the room and one can of Enfamil. Yet baby Gabriel looked skinny and dirty, said Urias. She said that the tot was not tired but he was listless- and he was disinterested in playing the games that she tried to engage him in.

Urias also described baby Gabriel as scared and unhappy. She had to hold him for most of the two hours that Johnson was gone because the little guy would cry any time that she tried to put him down. When she gave baby Gabriel his bottle, he smiled just that once. Nancy Grace guest Dr. Titus Duncan- General Surgeon at Atlanta Medical Center- said that from the photos he had seen, baby Gabriel was at first healthy and that based on his present look and behavior, "the baby was probably malnourished as well as dehydrated."

Failure to thrive. Nancy Grace guest Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author of Deal Breakers, said that a baby with this condition 'never reaches towards life and food and gratifying experience'. The cause can stem from the consistent withdrawal of the food and love that the baby once had. The more that those things are withdrawn, the more the baby starts to cling 'and that's why the baby [Gabriel] was clinging to Analisa'. Dr. Marshall added, "And this would also suggest that the mother was preparing for this baby to not be in this world."

Weapon of Choice. Among the mess of Johnson's clothes and toiletries- with no toy but a rattle for baby Gabriel and one book- prominently lay 'kind of like a butcher knife next to her bed'. Urias said that the knife had scared her. Dr. Marshall stated that the knife more likely signified that Johnson was paranoid- or worried about her vulnerable circumstances since kidnapping baby Gabriel- and that a knife was not the weapon of choice for a mother in killing her infant. He went on to say that it's usually a soft kill such as 'poisoning or suffocating or drowning'.

Hurts Like Hell. Dr. Marshall stated that Johnson's child abuse of baby Gabriel is a classic case. An abusive mother typically sees her child as 'unconditionally bad, greedy, demanding, taking their time, interfering with their happiness'. He went on, "And when she [Johnson] says to Analisa, he's bad when other people aren't around, she's describing a hostile stance towards the child."

But there's one more ostensible factor. When Logan McQueary broke up with Johnson, whose explosivity needs barely a shake to go off, on December 8, 2009, she wanted to hurt him horrifically. And she knew he loved baby Gabriel and still wanted to be with him, even though he no longer wanted to be with her. And that hurt her like hell. So jealous of her own child, she has maliciously lashed out at father and son by perpetrating Gabriel's disappearance thus separating them, perhaps forever.

Good Day Sunshine. When Elizabeth Johnson returned to her motel room, she seemed sunshiny happy. Urias asked her if she would need her babysitting service for baby Gabriel again. Johnson replied that she wasn't sure 'because she didn't know what she was going to do next with her life'. More likely, she considered that whatever she was going to do with Gabriel's life would essentially affect her life. She undoubtedly didn't consider life in jail.

Telephone. "I could hear the lady screaming at her over the phone," said Urias. She was referring to the phone call that Johnson took upon her return. After the call, Urias said Johnson had said, "I'm sorry about that... that was my grandma." But Johnson's grandmother told police that she had not called her granddaughter until after her granddaughter's arrest on December 30.

Come back Gabriel, come back boy. Wipe the tears from our eyes. Hey, whoever has baby Gabriel- his daddy loves him, his family loves him, the nation loves him. Be a hero- send him home safe and sound.

Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the safe return of Gabriel Johnson. Call 210-224-7867 or click here to submit your tip online. Or text a tip to 274637: Tip 127 plus your tip. Or call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at their 24-hour tip line: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Credits: Songs (Singers)

If Looks Could Kill (Heart)
Dressed to Kill (Nazareth)
Words of Love (The Beatles)
Food for Thought (Ub40)
Failure to Thrive (Faith and the Muse)
Weapon of Choice (Tokyo Rose)
Hurts Like Hell (Aretha Franklin)
Good Day Sunshine (The Beatles)
Telephone (Lady GaGa)
Come Back [Gabriel] Liza (Harry Belafonte)

Sources: KENS5 Babysitter Speaks Out; CNN New Clue in Missing BG Case; Woman Who Babysat BG Speaks Out;

13 Comments

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  • Light eLove3/3/2010

    Fabulous article -- fabulous writing and analogies. Perhaps two pictures of Elizabeth should be posted -- one of her as commonly seen in the media - bedraggled - and the other of her done up in her makeup.
    ~ Light eLove

  • proudgranney2/12/2010

    looks like they would charge the baby sitter with something?? she should have reported it??? maby she is some how involved?? who knows

  • Betty1/25/2010

    I keep praying for the safe return of this little boy. He is so adorable. I do not understand anyone doing this to their child. If she didn't want him she didn't have to do this to him. He may never know who he is. So sad. I hope the next thing I read, he has been returned.

  • Kristie Leong M.D.1/20/2010

    The subtitle is perfect. There are tears in my eyes when I think about this.

  • Gillian Wilk1/20/2010

    What a sad situation.

  • Jan Corn1/19/2010

    You have really been keeping readers up to date on this one!

  • SFaloon1/19/2010

    What a nightmare. That poor little guy.

  • Jeffrey Weeks1/19/2010

    how sad! :) jeffrey

  • Karen1/19/2010

    Excellent presentation of some horrifying facts surrounding this case. Please keep us up to date on what is happening in the search for Baby Gabriel.

  • T. Hillukka1/18/2010

    Such a sad case :(

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