Missing Baby Gabriel Johnson | Timeline: January 5-February 9, 2010

Baby Gabriel Johnson went missing on December 27, 2009. On the same day, his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, told the father, Logan McQueary, that she had killed him. After her arrest on December 30, she told police and the FBI that she had given Gabriel away to a couple whom she trusted in a San Antonio park.

January 5, 2010. The FBI found Bob Johnson's 1995 white Oldsmobile Delta-88, Arizona plate AGZ4214, parked at a San Antonio Texas Motel 6- where it was abandoned by his granddaughter, Elizabeth Johnson, who had driven it from Tempe Arizona in her flight with seven-month-old son Gabriel Johnson. (The vehicle details are from a media release by the Tempe Police Department on December 31, 2009.)

January 7. Police announced that Jack and Tammi Peters Smith, the Scottsdale couple who had once hoped to adopt Gabriel Johnson, were 'persons of interest' in the investigation of the baby's disappearance. Police believed the couple knew information leading to the whereabouts of Gabriel.

January 8. On Friday, 'persons of interest' Jack and Tammi Smith took polygraph tests.

January 9. Elizabeth Johnson, sitting in a Miami Dade Florida jail waived extradition to Arizona. Yet, she was extradited that day. In Texas, the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) opened their 'missing' person investigation on baby Gabriel Johnson.

January 10. On Sunday at 2:06am, Johnson was booked into 4th Avenue Jail, in Phoenix, Maricopa County. Already charged with Custodial Interference, she was also charged Kidnapping and Child Abuse.

January 12. A news media source learned that Craig Cherry was named along with Logan McQueary on the Paternity Petition filed by Johnson on December 14, 2009 regarding the paternity of Gabriel.

January 14. Tammi Smith visited Johnson, in Estrella Jail. Johnson wants to get out of jail and started talking; she described to Smith the San Antonio couple to whom she said she gave Gabriel . On the same day, Johnson's grandfather and twin brother were turned away from visiting her. In a police interview, Craig Cherry, a first cousin of Smith's, said he doesn't know Johnson- he has never met or spoken with her.

January 15. Maricopa County Superior Court held a Status Conference for Elizabeth Johnson. Prosecutors said that was indicted by a grand jury on charges of Kidnapping, Child Abuse and Custodial Interference.

Tammi Smith was voluntarily interviewed by Tempe police. Finding it rough, she admitted she wrote in Craig Cherry's name on the Paternity Petition filed by Johnson. That evening, at 7:30pm, the police cordoned off Jack and Tammi Smith's home. After a search warrant was brought to the premises, at about 10pm, the police began their search; they finished around midnight.

January 20. Maricopa County Superior Court held a Preliminary Hearing for Johnson. The FBI interviewed a son of Jack Smith's in Nashville, Tennessee. Smith had resided there for thirty-five years.

January 26. Elizabeth Johnson made a plea of 'Not Guilty'.

January 28. From jail, Johnson telephoned Tammi Smith.

February 2. Tammi Smith was arrested for Forgery and Conspiracy to Commit Custodial Interference. She was booked into 4th Avenue Jail. McQueary went on the road to follow Johnson's trail from Arizona to Texas with Gabriel. He stopped in El Paso to meet with famous Private Investigator Jay J. Armes, who had agreed to work pro bono.

February 3. In the early morning, Jack Smith bailed his wife, Tammi, out of jail by paying the bond of $15,000.

February 5. McQueary interrupted his Texas search for Gabriel to fly back to Arizona when Johnson's landlord requested that her trailer home be cleared out. Johnson had stopped paying on the note.

February 6. SAPD Chief William McManus announced that a homicide investigation had been opened, concurrent with the existing 'missing person' investigation for baby Gabriel Johnson.

February 8. Tammi Smith went to court for a Status Hearing. Re the search for Gabriel in Janet Morris's home in Tennessee, Smith told CBS that Morris was a friend of hers whom she asked to advise Johnson on what Johnson might be up against if she disappeared with baby Gabriel. She said, "I called [Elizabeth] and said 'look, you've got to call this girl Janet,' and so Janet basically, she called her and as far as I know, Janet told her the same thing that we've been telling her and begged her to come back. 'And if you don't come back, you could be facing these charges and these charges'."

February 9. The SAPD began a landfill search for the body of missing baby Gabriel Johnson.

UPDATE: March 12. The SAPD finished searching the eastside of the Tessman Road Landfill for the body of missing baby Gabriel Johnson and determined there were no signs of homicide.

Sources. KPHO: Persons of Interest; Persons of Interest Take Polygraphs; Tammi Smith Arrested; Baby Gabriel's Dad Road Trip; Landfill Search; Info Withheld in BG Case (Craig Cherry); KPHO CBS5: Tip Had FBI Searching Nashville Home; ABC: Gabriel Still Alive; abc15 Mom Appears in Court. McQueary Cleared Out Trailer; CBS News BG Investigation From Missing Baby to Murder; CNN: Landfill Search Ends;

Related article: Missing Baby Gabriel Johnson | Timeline: December 8-30, 2009

Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for info leading to the safe return of baby Gabriel. Call 210-224-7867 or submit tip online here. Or text a tip to 274637: Tip 127 plus your tip. Or call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.