Mother at center of capital murder investigation over missing 2-year-old, warrant says

Austin police filed a search warrant as part of an expanded probe into the disappearance of Ava Marie Gonzales, who has not been located since about 2018. The warrant was filed days before the mother's separate child-abuse trial, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 26.

Austin police have expanded a child-abuse inquiry into a possible capital murder connected to the disappearance of a young child. The recently filed search warrant authorizes detectives to seek evidence investigators believe is linked to Ava Marie Gonzales, who was born in 2015 and has not been located since about 2018. Public records and agency files cited by investigators show no confirmed school, medical or law-enforcement records for her beyond age 2. The warrant was filed shortly before the mother's separate child-abuse trial is set to begin. What officials reported: - Austin Police obtained a search warrant to pursue evidence related to the disappearance of Ava Marie Gonzales. - Officials say Ava was born Oct. 21, 2015, and has not been seen or located since about 2018, with no records showing her alive past age 2. - Detectives reported they believe Ava may have died on or around Jan. 2, 2018; as of the warrant filing, the mother has not been formally charged in relation to Ava's disappearance. - The mother faces separate child-abuse charges in a case that includes alleged severe neglect of another child, and that trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 26. Summary: The search warrant signals an expanded investigative focus on the long-unsolved disappearance of Ava Gonzales and seeks evidence officials say may be connected to that case. A separate criminal trial for the mother is set for Jan. 26; any decisions about charges tied directly to Ava are undetermined at this time.