Police find a daughter of malnutrition in the closet. They are looking for her sister for the last time in 2017

Texas police are asking for public help to find a missing child who was last seen in 2017 after his mother was accused of having locked another child in a closet.

Ava Marie Gonzales, now aged 9, was seen for the last time by family and friends at the age of 2, the Austin Police Service (APD) said in a press release.

The child's mother, Virginia Gonzales, was arrested on April 24 for alleged serious injury to a child. APD said it was “seriously concerned about Ava's well-being” given the circumstances in which his young brother was found on April 3.

The child's grandmother called 911 after finding her 7-year-old granddaughter “Mal nourrie, defiled and barricated in a chamber cupboard”, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Kxan.

What to know

Ava has never been missing after his disappearance over seven years ago, according to Kxan. Ava is described as a Hispanic woman with straight brown hair and brown eyes. Its size and weight are unknown.

The agents responded to an apartment on Ross Road in Del Valle last month for a wellness check. The grandmother told the police that the other children of the house had been invited to put a 7-year-old girl in a closet because she had trouble controlling her bladder, according to the Affidavit.

She also told officials that the child “always entered things”, which she explained meant that the child ate things that she was not authorized.

The girl was taken to the Dell Children's Medical Center, where her weight was recorded as 29 pounds. She had dark stains on her body, which medical staff identified as a sign of malnutrition, the police said. She also said that her “bones hurt”.

An older brother told the police that the child would eat a “hot dog / corndog in the morning and in the evening” and could only drink half a cup of water, according to the affidavit. Officials said the pantry, fridge and freezer were supplied with a variety of food. Six other children found at home seemed healthy healthy health.

The closet in which the child was found had no circulation of light or air. He measured about 4 feet, 9 inches per 1 foot, 10 inches, but other objects in the closet have taken up space, according to the Affidavit.

Police said the closet door had been barricaded with boxes weighing more than 75 pounds combined.

What people say

The detective of the Austin Russell Police Department Constable, during a press conference: “”[The mom] provided contradictory information to many different family members. So we hope to get more information and try to understand where it is. “”

Shelly Troberman, lawyer with the experience of child protection services, told Kxan: “You have many different people sometimes operating in these cases, obtaining different information and sharing incorrect information with each other.

What happens next

Anyone with information on which is avoided is asked to contact Ava@austintexas.gov. Advice can also be anonymously subjected via crimes of crimes by calling 512-572-8477.

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