PI: Missing Baby Gabriel Johnson Still Alive

Stephanie Serna

SAN ANTONIO -- After looking through mother Elizabeth Johnson's handwritten journal, private investigator Ken Gamble said he thinks Johnson's story about going to a park to meet a couple is true and he has good reason to believe Gabriel is still alive.

Gamble said Wednesday that he has looked through the journal and it puts Rimkus Park off Evers Road in San Antonio at the center of the investigation into the case of the missing baby.

"She also wrote down directions to this park in her journal," said Gamble. "And that is a key piece of evidence because it shows her story about coming to the park is credible. You can't get any better evidence than handwritten notes made by herself."

Gamble said Wednesday that Johnson also describes the park in detail: from the jogging trail, to the wooded area, and the park bench where she says she met a couple on the morning of Dec. 27.

Gamble said he believes that the couple was sent there by a third party who she trusted.

"I was able to see the handwritten notes and it's very compelling, because it tells the story of what she did when she was down here," said Gamble. "It gives details about her contacting women's shelters, crisis centers."

San Antonio police had been investigating the case as a missing persons case and a homicide case. They were also investigating reports that Johnson had contacted her former boyfriend, saying she smothered the baby and left him in a Dumpster.

However, a 16-day search through a landfill earlier this month turned up nothing.

"We have good reason to believe the baby is alive and again we can't say why at this point, but we have very good reason to believe that the baby is being cared for by persons that are not known at this time," said Gamble.

Gamble said the couple that met Johnson at the park were in their 30s or 40s. He said the man has short, dark hair and the woman is about 5-feet, 6-inches with long, blond hair.