Post by Admin on Apr 21, 2014 21:47:11 GMT
It's been two years since little Isabel Celis was last seen, in her Tucson home, tucked into bed, by her parents, never to be seen again.
Her disappearance triggered an international media storm and doubt, pointed at the family. "We can't believe we're at the two year mark. We never even imagined that this would have even gone more than that first day" Sergio Celis told News 4 Tucson.
Becky and Sergio Celis say, having each other and their boys, is what keeps them going. They're optimistic Isa will be coming home, but Sergio is still acutely aware of the early focus on him. He says from day one, police ignored the real red flags. He says "That's truly where my frustrations were as far as that went, it just really felt that they weren't doing anything, it's like, we're right here we're not going anywhere."
Sergio also says that now, things have changed. When investigators recanvassed the neighborhood, and re-interviewed neighbors in January, he says the communication lines with new detectives, opened up. Becky added, "The fact that they're doing something, it can only be positive."
About a month after the child's disappearance, police revealed that Sergio Celis had been barred from having contact with the girl's two older brothers for a period of time, but they did not say why. Sergio Celis said he wants to see detectives apply the same scrutiny to any new leads. 'That was my main hope when everything revamped that hopefully they'll go in a more appropriate direction that they weren't looking at from the beginning,' he said. The couple said a relative who moved away shortly after Isabel went missing has been uncooperative with the investigation. They hope police will get to interview him. The Celises would only say the relative is someone who hasn't been in contact with the family.
CASE BACKGROUND
Isabel was reported missing from her home near Broadway and Craycroft Road on April 21, 2012. Sergio discovered she was gone when he went to wake her for her baseball game that morning. Becky had already left for her job as a nurse at Tucson Medical Center. The last time she saw Isabel was the night before around 11:30 p.m., when she moved her from the master bedroom, where she had fallen asleep, to her own bedroom. Local and federal authorities investigated thousands of leads in the days and weeks after Isabel disappeared. Authorities spent weeks searching Isabel’s neighborhood, parks and a landfill, and questioning residents for evidence related to Isabel’s case. No suspects have ever been publicly identified by police.
WHAT’S NEW
This year, police recanvassed Isabel’s neighborhood and went to 305 homes. Forty-two interviews were conducted in Tucson, other cities in Arizona and in California, Texas and Washington. Police investigated 30 tips made through 88-CRIME, which included dog searches, and contacting other law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina Pennsylvania and Mexico. A total of 2,192 leads have been investigated this year.
HOW TO HELP
Isabel has light brown hair and hazel eyes. She was 3-feet-8 inches tall and weighed 44 pounds when she was last seen. One top tooth and one bottom tooth were missing and she was wearing a blue tank top and navy blue basketball shorts when she was last seen. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME. A reward remains in place.
Her disappearance triggered an international media storm and doubt, pointed at the family. "We can't believe we're at the two year mark. We never even imagined that this would have even gone more than that first day" Sergio Celis told News 4 Tucson.
Becky and Sergio Celis say, having each other and their boys, is what keeps them going. They're optimistic Isa will be coming home, but Sergio is still acutely aware of the early focus on him. He says from day one, police ignored the real red flags. He says "That's truly where my frustrations were as far as that went, it just really felt that they weren't doing anything, it's like, we're right here we're not going anywhere."
Sergio also says that now, things have changed. When investigators recanvassed the neighborhood, and re-interviewed neighbors in January, he says the communication lines with new detectives, opened up. Becky added, "The fact that they're doing something, it can only be positive."
About a month after the child's disappearance, police revealed that Sergio Celis had been barred from having contact with the girl's two older brothers for a period of time, but they did not say why. Sergio Celis said he wants to see detectives apply the same scrutiny to any new leads. 'That was my main hope when everything revamped that hopefully they'll go in a more appropriate direction that they weren't looking at from the beginning,' he said. The couple said a relative who moved away shortly after Isabel went missing has been uncooperative with the investigation. They hope police will get to interview him. The Celises would only say the relative is someone who hasn't been in contact with the family.
CASE BACKGROUND
Isabel was reported missing from her home near Broadway and Craycroft Road on April 21, 2012. Sergio discovered she was gone when he went to wake her for her baseball game that morning. Becky had already left for her job as a nurse at Tucson Medical Center. The last time she saw Isabel was the night before around 11:30 p.m., when she moved her from the master bedroom, where she had fallen asleep, to her own bedroom. Local and federal authorities investigated thousands of leads in the days and weeks after Isabel disappeared. Authorities spent weeks searching Isabel’s neighborhood, parks and a landfill, and questioning residents for evidence related to Isabel’s case. No suspects have ever been publicly identified by police.
WHAT’S NEW
This year, police recanvassed Isabel’s neighborhood and went to 305 homes. Forty-two interviews were conducted in Tucson, other cities in Arizona and in California, Texas and Washington. Police investigated 30 tips made through 88-CRIME, which included dog searches, and contacting other law enforcement agencies in Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina Pennsylvania and Mexico. A total of 2,192 leads have been investigated this year.
HOW TO HELP
Isabel has light brown hair and hazel eyes. She was 3-feet-8 inches tall and weighed 44 pounds when she was last seen. One top tooth and one bottom tooth were missing and she was wearing a blue tank top and navy blue basketball shorts when she was last seen. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME. A reward remains in place.
