FRANTIC SEARCH FOR MISSING MARIA, 12, ENDS: FOUND 600 MILES AWAY WITH MALE SUSPECT
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
3.9 • 7.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 August 2024
⏱️ 43 minutes
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Summary
Twelve-year-old Maria lives with her father, Andres Gomez, and cousin, Ricky, in Gainesville, Georgia. Maria's mother is not involved in her life.
On the morning of her disappearance, Andres leaves the house at 10 AM, assuming Maria is still asleep. He says goodbye to his nephew, Ricky, and heads out. When Gomez returns home that evening, Maria doesn’t greet him at the door. Concerned, he knocks on her bedroom door, only to find that his 12-year-old daughter is missing. The family frantically contacts neighbors and friends in search of her. Maria is reported missing.
Nearly two months later, the case takes a turn. Maria contacts her father via Facebook Messenger. Investigators trace the IP address and manage to locate the device. Maria is found with 31-year-old Antonio Augustin, a Guatemalan native living in northeastern Ohio. Police believe Maria had been communicating with Augustin online for some time.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Derek Smith – Criminal Defense Attorney
- Dr. Jeff Gardere – Board Certified Clinical Jeffrey Gardere – Psychologist, Prof of Behavioral Medicine at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine; Author: ‘The Causes of Autism” @drjeffgardere
- John Pizzuro - Raven’s CEO, Former New Jersey State Police Commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Former New Jersey State Police
- Titania Jordan – Chief Parent Officer, Bark Parental Controls; Author: “Parenting In A Tech World;” Instagram/X: @TitaniaJordan
- Nora Almazan - Author, Writer, Editor, Ghostwriter, and Reporter for Now Habersham
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Need the latest crime news fast? |
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| 0:05.0 | or urgent alerts about missing persons, |
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| 0:12.0 | I'm Nancy Grace, and with our team of |
| 0:14.1 | investigative reporters and experts we bring you the top crime headlines you |
| 0:18.6 | need to know every hour on the hour. Listen to Crime Alert hourly update on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your |
| 0:28.0 | podcasts. |
| 0:29.0 | Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. |
| 0:36.0 | The frantic surge for missing Maria. |
| 0:39.0 | A 12-year-old little girl ends 600 miles away with a 34 year old Guatemalan |
| 0:49.2 | National. I'm Nancy Grace. This is crime stories. Thank you for being with us. |
| 0:55.0 | 12 year old Georgia girl Maria Gomez Perez vanishes from her home driveway. |
| 1:03.0 | Now a desperate search ensues to bring Maria home. |
| 1:08.0 | A little 12 year old girl Maria goes missing from her own home. Her parents fear she has been lured by a much |
| 1:18.7 | older man. What does that have to do with the 34 year old Guatemalan national? |
| 1:27.0 | Think about it. |
| 1:28.0 | Your 12 year old little girl goes missing from your own home. |
| 1:32.0 | Listen, at this point, do you believe she's in danger? missing from your own home? Listen. |
| 1:32.8 | At this point, do you believe she's in danger? |
| 1:35.3 | Well, she's 12 years old, and she's been going a week and a half, |
| 1:38.1 | so that kind of answers your question. |
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