ISABEL MERCEDES CELIS - 6 yo (2012) - Tucson AZ

May 25th 2012

PHOENIX -- For the first time since a Tucson girl disappeared from
her home five weeks ago, officials have released more information on the
case.

The Tucson Police Department
has just made public some 550 pages of documents related to the
investigation. They include reports filed by officers in the search for
Isabel. The documents reveal some of the evidence that has been seized,
including blood from the family's home.

Investigators believe Isabel disappeared from her bedroom sometime
after 11 p.m. on Friday, April 20. Her parents say they tucked in her
that night only to find her gone the next morning.

The screen had been removed from her bedroom window. Forensic
detectives apparently found and photographed footprints and shoe
impressions in a nearby alleyway. One report indicates police found
blood on the floor in the house.

Investigators also seized evidence from a car parked at the Celis
home. Among the items, a white hat and vinyl shower curtain. Reports
indicate the items had "dark red-brown or brown stains." Tests were not
preformed on the shower curtain because detectives wanted to keep it as
close to its original condition and allow crime-lab personnel to screen
it if necessary. Another officer reported a positive result in
testing traces of blood in the driver's seat.

On the morning Isabel was reported missing, police immediately took
DNA samples from the child's parents and brothers. According to
documents, they also took the Isabel's hairbrush and toothbrush.

More than 1,000 tips have come in so far. One caller reported a pair
of children's sandals found in a garbage can. Those sandals collected as
evidence.

To date, hundreds of officers have been involved in the search
Isabel. The investigation has cost the Tucson Police Department more
than $1 million.

No suspects have been named in Isabel's disappearance, but police are not ruling anyone out.
http://www.azfamily.com/news/isabel-celis/Police-documents-reveal-evidence-seized-in-missing-Tucson-girl-case-154114835.html

Blood Found In Isabel Celis' Bedroom, Stains Found On Shower Curtain: Report

By Andy Campbell
Posted: 05/28/2012 9:49 am
Updated: 05/28/2012 9:49 am

Detectives saw what they believed to be blood on 6-year-old Isabel Celis' bedroom floor during their investigation into her disappearance, according to a shocking report released late last week.

Arizona police released documents revealing that the "apparent blood" was found in the missing girl's bedroom, and "dark red-brown stains" were found in a car outside the family's home, ABC News reported.

Authorities released more than 550 pages of case files, more than a month after Celis' father called 911 to report that the girl had likely been abducted some time after she went to bed the night of April 20.

The reports don't offer many details or speculate as to why there was blood in the home. Investigators also found stains on a shower curtain and white hat stowed in the family car, HLN-TV reported.

The documents also revealed that a witness pointed a finger at Celis' father, Sergio Celis, because he allegedly owed someone money. The witness speculated that Celis was abducted over a cash dispute.

"[The man] went on to say that something didn't seem right about what was going on and alluded that he believed that the father was involved in some way," the police report stated, according to ABC News.

Celis told cops that he fell asleep on the couch the night his daughter was taken. He's been under watch since the beginning of the investigation, but the girl's mother has defended him, calling him "a great father."

It's yet unclear what effect, if any, the reported blood stains have had on finding Isabel Celis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/28/blood-found-in-isabel-celis-bedroom_n_1550314.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl3|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D164774

June 4th 2012
Six weeks have passed since 6-year-old Isabel Celis was reported
missing from her Tucson home and police have released few details on the
case lately. Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor says despite the
lack of information to the public, officers and investigators continue working on the case.

“Right now we’re at a point where we are following investigative
paths that keep us quite busy,” Villaseñor says. “We think that this was
an abduction of some kind, so obviously that infers that there are
suspects that we are looking at, or people of interest that we're looking at.”

Villaseñor did not reveal who those suspects are. Rebecca and Sergio
Celis, the missing girl’s parents, have not been ruled out as suspects in her disappearance.

Isabel Celis was reported missing the morning of April 21, when
police say her father woke up to find her bedroom empty. Investigators
collected samples of what appeared to be blood on the missing girl’s
bedroom floor and on other items, and Villaseñor says TPD is doing forensic tests on those items.

Last month, Child Protective Services asked the missing girl’s
father, Sergio, to stay away from his two other children, Isabel’s older
brothers. Details of why he has been separated from his sons are
unknown, but Villasenor says those restrictions remain the same.

Since the investigation began, Villaseñor says he has looked across
the country at different missing children cases and looked into how some
of the more well-known cases were handled.

“I’m very proud that so many considerations were taken into play
right from the beginning with shutting down landfill routes, getting the
FBI involved, bringing in the dogs," he said. "All the things that you
would want from a thorough investigation were conducted by the Tucson
Police Department in partnership with other agencies.”

Villaseñor says he wants Isabel Celis’ face to remain out there as detectives continue working the case.

“It’s not a successful investigation until we find her or we find out
what happened to her, but I would consider this a well-run investigation so far,” he said.

In the first few weeks, TPD received hundreds of tips on the case.
But as time has passed, those tips have diminished, Villaseñor says.

There is now a $60,500 reward on this case through 88-CRIME, $59,500 of which come from private donations.
http://www.azpm.org/news/story/2012/6/4/1558-police-on-missing-tucson-girl-there-are-suspects/

Celis case detectives keep search warrant sealed

CREATED JUN. 29, 2012
Reporter: Craig Smith

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - It will be at least another month-and-a half before we know what Tucson Police found in Isabel Celis's home. Investigators extended a request to keep those papers secret.

34 days after Isabel Celis disappeared, police shared a large stack of reports. But now, on day 70 there is one set of documents still locked away: the search warrants.

Police may not know for sure what happened in the Celis house the day the six year old girl disappeared but search warrants may offer their theories.

A search warrant release often includes transcripts of detectives convincing the judge to issue the warrant. They tell the judge what they think they may find. After the search, detectives report what they did find.

In early May, the parents told us, police used special compounds to find evidence.

Becky Celis said, "They used a lot of chemicals especially the kids rooms, the boys and Isa's room for evidence collection and so. We couldn't take the kids in there without having it professionally removed."

But detectives have asked over and over to keep the warrants sealed. They requested 30 days under seal at first; then another 45, then yet another 45 days.

That means the warrants will probably be locked up until late August---about four months after Isabel's disappearance.

Even without the warrants, we know some of what police found from reports they did release; including apparent blood on the floor of Isabel's bedroom.

In a car, they found a vinyl shower curtain with dark red or brown stains.

Soon after those reports came out in late May, Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said some of the smallest clues can break a case.

"We never discount anything been doing for almost 32 years and you continue to get surprised."

Police will often avoid releasing certain information because it may be something only the criminal would know. But we've heard no elaboration on why they've kept the warrant information in this case sealed for so long.

Usually warrants are available within a few days of a crime but those are usually crimes where someone is under arrest and an arrest is still something we're waiting for in the Celis case.

http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/160916585.html

Prosecutors are expected to decide this week whether charges will be
filed against two sisters who admitted to making a prank call, claiming
to be missing 6-year-old Isabel Celis.
The girls, ages 9 and 11,
were arrested Sunday after one of the girls called from a cellphone,
claimed to be Isabel and said she had been kidnapped. She then hung up,
said Sgt. Chris Widmer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
Isabel
is the Little League player who was reported missing by her father,
Sergio Celis, from their midtown home April 21. Her abduction led to a
massive law enforcement search and national media coverage that lasted
for weeks.
Isabel has not been found.
Sunday's prank call
was made shortly after 9 a.m. and traced to the 7200 block of East
Pierce Place, near East 22nd Street and South Kolb Road.
Police immediately began canvassing the neighborhood in search of the caller, Widmer said.
More than 25 officers, including detectives from the Sex Offenders Registration and Tracking Unit, went to the neighborhood.
Their
investigation led to an apartment complex at 1345 S. Kolb Road,
Mirabella Apartment Homes. Police contacted the two sisters, who
admitted to making the 911 phone call as a prank, Widmer said. The
girls' mother was at the apartment but was unaware that her daughters
had made the telephone call, said Widmer.
Police arrested the
sisters each on suspicion of one count of false reporting to a law
enforcement agency, and took them to Pima County Juvenile Detention
Center.
The juvenile court did not detain the sisters because they
did not meet the court's criteria for detention, said Stephen Rubin,
the juvenile court's administrator.
He said the girls did not have
any court record and were arrested on a misdemeanor offense. Whether
they face charges is up to the Pima County Attorney's Office, Rubin
said.
He refused to release their names.
Meanwhile, Isabel's
mysterious disappearance continues to tug at the hearts of Tucsonans as
volunteers have worked to keep the child's case in the public eye.
The
child's father reported Isabel missing, telling police he went to wake
her up about 8 a.m. April 21 because she had a 9 a.m. ballgame, but
Isabel was not in her bedroom. The window screen to Isabel's bedroom had
been removed, and the child was not in the house.
Billboards have
sprung up in Phoenix and Tucson, and fliers with the child's face and
physical description have been posted across the country, in northern
Mexico and through social media.
Becky Celis, Isabel's mother,
spoke nearly two weeks ago to let the community know that the Isabel
Celis Faith and Hope Center is operating out of Christian Faith
Fellowship, 5601 E. Broadway, near Craycroft Road.
The volunteers had been meeting at Abbie Loveland Tuller School on East 14th Street, just south of Park Place Mall.
Before
then, they were operating from under a ramada at a shopping center at
South Craycroft Road and East Broadway, not far from the child's home in
the 5600 block of East 12th Street.
The Tucson Police Department
continues the investigation but has not named any suspects nor shared
what might have happened to the child.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/sisters-claiming-to-be-missing-girl-isabel-celis-may-be/article_d6237802-f278-50c1-92d1-b798986b1555.html

Tucson police release 911 tape in prank Isabel Celis call

16 hours ago
By Veronica M. Cruz and Carmen Duarte Arizona Daily Star

Audio: 911 call made by sisters pretending to be Isabel Celis (1)

Audio: 911 call made by sisters pretending to be Isabel Celis (2)

Audio: 911 call made by sisters pretending to be Isabel Celis (3)

Nearly $4,700 in resources was spent investigating a prank call made by a pair of sisters who called 911 Sunday and claimed to be missing Tucson 6-year-old Isabel Celis, the Tucson Police Department estimates.

The girls called 911 three times saying that a man was coming for them, giving the name “Isabel” and saying they were kidnapped, according to 911 tapes released Monday afternoon.

In the first call one girl repeats “he’s coming” when asked what she was calling to report, before hanging up the phone.

In the second call, a girl says “Isabel” when she’s asked what she’s reporting, when asked again why she was calling she replied “I’m kidnapped” and gave the address of “East Old Spanish Trail” when a dispatcher asked where she was calling from.

In the third call one of the girls again says “he’s coming.” When the dispatcher asked who’s coming she replies “The guy he’s coming for us, help me.”

Prosecutors are expected to decide this week whether charges will be filed against the two sisters who admitted to making the prank call.

The girls, ages 9 and 11, were arrested Sunday after one of the girls called from a cellphone, claimed to be Isabel and said she had been kidnapped. She then hung up, said Sgt. Chris Widmer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Isabel is the Little League player who was reported missing by her father, Sergio Celis, from their midtown home April 21. Her abduction led to a massive law enforcement search and national media coverage that lasted for weeks.

Isabel has not been found.

Sunday's prank call was made shortly after 9 a.m. and traced to the 7200 block of East Pierce Place, near East 22nd Street and South Kolb Road.

Police immediately began canvassing the neighborhood in search of the caller, Widmer said.

More than 25 officers, including detectives from the Sex Offenders Registration and Tracking Unit, went to the neighborhood.

Their investigation led to an apartment complex at 1345 S. Kolb Road, Mirabella Apartment Homes. Police contacted the two sisters, who admitted to making the 911 phone call as a prank, Widmer said. The girls' mother was at the apartment but was unaware that her daughters had made the telephone call, said Widmer.

Police arrested the sisters each on suspicion of one count of false reporting to a law enforcement agency, and took them to Pima County Juvenile Detention Center.

The juvenile court did not detain the sisters because they did not meet the court's criteria for detention, said Stephen Rubin, the juvenile court's administrator.

He said the girls did not have any court record and were arrested on a misdemeanor offense. Whether they face charges is up to the Pima County Attorney's Office, Rubin said.

He refused to release their names.

Read More: http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/tucson-police-release-tape-in-prank-isabel-celis-call/article_d6237802-f278-50c1-92d1-b798986b1555.html

'Paper Your Streets' event tonight for Isabel Celis

08/03/2012
TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -

Family, friends and volunteers are holding another event to make sure to keep a missing Tucson child on our minds.

Friday night they will hold a "Paper Your Streets" event at Freedom Park to post pictures and information about Isabel Celis.

The idea is to post more missing person posters with little Isabel's information to try to bring her home.

The six-year-old disappeared from her Tucson home in April. Police have followed up on more than one-thousand leads.

The reward for information in the case has topped $60,000.

If you would like to participate in the "Paper your Streets" event, head down to Freedom Park Friday night.

It runs from 7:00 until 8:00 at the park. Freedom Park is on 29th Street, between Swan and Craycroft.
http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/19189163/paper-the-streets-event-tonight-for-isabel-celis

Celis family prepares to celebrate Isabel's birthday

Posted: Aug 27, 2012 1:36 AM CDT
Updated: Aug 27, 2012 1:36 AM CDT
By Sonu Wasu

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - The family of missing child Isabel Celis planned to celebrate their daughter's 7th birthday with a special Mass at church, praying for her safe return.

Isabel Celis vanished from her bedroom more than four months ago.

Her parents, Sergio and Becky Celis spoke to Tucson News Now on Sunday, saying they had not lost hope, and were still optimistic that their daughter would be coming home soon.

They asked the community to pick up new flyers and posters, and re-post them in neighborhoods throughout Tucson, and they asked for more prayers.
"Anybody who'd like to come and pray for Isabel please come," said Becky Celis.

Her family was preparing to celebrate Isa's birthday by getting her room ready, and talking about things she would have enjoyed on her birthday.

"We're trying to get her room nice and pretty, just fix it up. That's where my concentration has been, but it's really hard for me to see her picture and know she's not going to be here for her birthday," said Becky Celis.

Isabel's father, Sergio Celis added that they would never lose hope. They wanted her room to be ready, in case they got the call from police that she would be coming home tomorrow.

Dozens of strangers posted birthday wishes on a Facebook page dedicated to finding Isabel Celis. Family members said they planned to celebrate their child's birthday as though she were there, to enjoy it with them.

"We'll have balloons, donuts early in the morning," said Sergio Celis.

Becky Celis added, "She just loves to be home and be together as a family. We'll have balloons for sure, we'll do that tomorrow that before Mass." :56

The special birthday Mass was scheduled to take place on Monday evening at 6:30 PM, at the family's home church, St. Joseph Roman Catholic Parish, near Broadway and Craycroft.

http://www.kpho.com/story/19381341/celis-family-makes-plans-for-isabels-7th-birthday

Isabel Celis: Comprehensive Analysis
Thursday, September 13, 2012

Let's take a comprehensive analysis of the case of missing 6 year old, Isabel Celis by looking at Kaaryn's work:

Analyzing Kaaryn's finding, in light of what we have seen through the lens of Statement Analysis, and through Behavioral Analysis.

Readers here already know that I have stated that the parents are deceptive. This is something to be presupposed in this article.

I have already posted Statement Analyst, Kaaryn Gough's work on the case, along with short articles and entries on the short statements of the parents. I have also posted Behavioral Analysis of the parents' reaction to the alleged kidnapping.

Let's look at Kaaryn's detailed analysis from the perspective of Behavioral Analysis, and the prior short Statement Analysis of the few words spoken by the parents. Kaaryn's is posted again, with bold type analysis and commentary added.

TODAY SHOW INTERVIEW OF PARENTS OF ISABEL MERCEDES CELIS
MAY 4, 2012

ANN CURRY, SERGIO CELIS, BECKY CELIS
Statement Analysis is not evidence. It is an investigative tool that can gather information and help direct investigative efforts. A person is innocent until proven guilty in a recognized court of law.
Language Notes:
The subjects, Sergio Celis and Becky Celis use the following language:
“taken”– 0 times
“kidnapped” – 0 times
“find” – 1 time
“We're desperate in finding out information.”
“look” – 3 times
“that little sleepy look as she was walking by.”
“And to whomever did this, please, look at her. Look at her.”
“search” – 0 times
*It should be noted that Becky Celis uses the present tense at all times when referring to Isabel. This strongly suggests she believes their daughter is alive.

Could it be that she is careful to attempt to only use present tense language? We consider the past tense usage a slip of the deceptive, when viewing guilty parents.

Let's take a look at this: they reported that Isabel was kidnapped by a stranger. This was reported by various media and was said to be strong assertions. This was their first national interview. What did you expect to hear? Likely, you expected to hear them talk about kidnapping. Kaaryn's analysis showed that they did not use the word "kidnapped" once, nor did they use the word "taken." This is important and it is very unexpected; that is, unless you have been following the analysis: they are deceptive.

Note next what would be considered to be the 2nd most used word after kidnapped: "find."

How is it possible that the parents of a 'kidnapped' child used the word "find" only once? (continues...)

http://statement-analysis.blogspot.com/2012/09/isabel-celis-comprehensive-analysis.html

Poster's note: this is interesting but it is very long so I didn't copy whole analysis.

TPD continues Celis investigation; Family's private investigator has theories

17 hours 24 minutes ago
by Lupita Murillo

TUCSON - It was two years ago Monday that an east side father woke up and quickly realized his daughter wasn't in her bed.

Isabel Celis was gone, disappeared. Immediately the search and investigation began.

Tucson Police have followed thousands of leads and tips. Becky and Sergio Celis say they still have hope.

In January, Tucson Police took a fresh look at this case. Eight new detectives were assigned to the case to re-examine it. From March 2013-2014, TPD has gone back to the Celis neighborhood to look for new information.

Over a two day period (January 12-14, 2014) 36 TPD personnel spoke to individuals in 305 residences.

The family has their own private investigator working the case. Kelly Snyder, a retired federal agent says, "My investigation pointed at two individuals." He says he interviewed one person three times, and Tucson police were aware. Snyder also did a handwriting analysis on this person. "This individual shed some light as far as I was concerned on her disappearance."

He has handed over his information to Tucson Police. "All I would suggest is that they take a hard look at that evidence. Go at their own pace in what they truly believe is a potential lead. Hopefully they've done that or will do that."

According to TPD, in the last year they have made contact with agencies in Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Mexico.

They have also resubmitted potential evidence for further testing.

Snyder adds, "Any department that would spend this much time and effort on a case is trying to do the right thing."

The Celis family says they are glad TPD is continuing their investigation. The family says it gives them hope.

In all TPD has received and investigated 2,192 leads.

If you have information you are urged to call 911 or 88-CRIME.

http://www.kvoa.com/news/tpd-continues-celis-investigation-family-s-private-investigator-has-theories/