Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

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About Ava

Ava Marie Gonzalez was born on October 21, 2015 to her mother, Virginia Marie Gonzalez. Although her father has never been named publicly, she became one of eight children.

Ava was never enrolled in school, so the records of her life are scarce. As such, the circumstances around her disappearance remain a mystery.

Discovery of Ava’s Absence

From what little information is available, Ava and her siblings had a rough life. Although she went missing on December 25, 2017, she was not discovered missing until April 2025, when the authorities discovered the children’s horrifying living conditions.

One of the children (a seven-year-old girl) had been barricaded in a small bedroom closet in the family’s apartment. The child was soiled, severely malnourished, and developed permanent brain damage due to starvation. According to the other kids in the home, their mother (Virginia Gonzales) had commanded the other children to lock the seven-year-old in the closet because she “got into things, ate things she wasn’t supposed to eat, and had trouble controlling her bladder.”

She was only given a single corn dog and half a cup of water per day.

This child was the only one subjected to this treatment. The other six children (ranging in ages from 2-14) were healthy and well-nourished, and their pantry, freezer, and refrigerator were stocked with food.

As a result, Virginia was arrested for child abuse, and all seven children were placed in foster care. Shortly after, the authorities discovered that an eighth child, Ava, was unaccounted for.

What Could’ve Happened to Ava?

There is no record that Ava or any of her siblings ever attended school, even though Texas law requires all children over the age of six to be enrolled.

As the investigation continued, Child Protective Services (CPS) revealed that they had a document claiming that Ava had “moved in with her father.” This document was supposedly signed by the grandmother of one of Virginia’s children, and it even had a phone number. It’s unknown whether this was Ava’s grandmother or the grandmother of one of her siblings.

After the authorities spoke to the grandmother, she revealed that the signature on the document was forged, and the phone number listed was not hers.

The authorities also spoke with one of Virginia’s former boyfriends, who was also the father of her fourth child. According to his account, Virginia claimed that Ava was her sister’s child, and she was living in San Antonio, Texas. She called Ava a “crack baby,” claiming she had been born prematurely with health problems. However, medical records show that Ava was not premature. She had a normal birth with no complications.

The authorities then talked to Virginia’s oldest son. According to his account, Ava was given to “a family” when she was about three years old. He then described an incident he witnessed in Austin, Texas in 2018.

At the time, he and his family lived in a motel. One day, he heard Ava in the bathroom screaming “real bad.” Concerned, he looked inside the bathroom and saw his mother “violently assaulting” Ava in the tub with the water running. Ava stopped screaming at the same time the water turned off. He then saw his mother clothe Ava and put her in her car seat where the young girl “looked like she was sleeping.”

He reportedly asked Virginia where she was taking Ava, and she reportedly told him that Ava was “going to live with new parents.”

After waking up the next morning, he saw that Ava was gone, and Virginia seemed much happier.

There have been no sightings of Ava, and no charges have been filed in her case. Investigators have not confirmed her fate, and they’re encouraging the public to come forward with any information they may have. As of this writing, the disappearance of Ava Marie Gonzales remains unsolved.

My Thoughts

The disappearance of Ava Marie Gonzales is a haunting reminder of what happens when children slip through the cracks. A young girl goes missing, but no one realizes until years later. No one remembers her height and weight, the clothes she was last seen wearing, or where she was last seen. We don’t even know who she was last seen with. It could’ve been with Virginia, one of her siblings, or this supposed “new family” that Virginia mentioned. There’s simply no evidence, which has left investigators trying to find the first step.

Cases like Ava’s hit me the hardest. It’s bad enough when someone disappears. It’s even worse when someone disappears and no one realizes until years or decades later. It’s even more tragic when the information shows that the individual had a difficult home life.

I have no idea why Virginia treated at least one of her children so badly. I have no idea why this child was locked in a closet and given so little to eat or drink (despite having plenty of food). All I know is that as a society, we need to start coming back together. We need to check in on our neighbors and sound the alarm when something’s wrong.

People like Ava depend on people like you to stand in the gap and say, “this child will not slip through the cracks.”

I don’t know how Ava’s case is going to be solved. I don’t know if her remains will ever be found. And I don’t know if she will ever have her day in court. But as long as we honor each person’s dignity and speak up for what’s right, her memory will live on.

May Ava be found, and may she receive the justice she deserves.

***

If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Ava Marie Gonzales, there is not much information available. Without the help of The Charley Project, this post would not have been possible. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• ABC 13: Police Searching for Girl After Mom Arrested for Allegedly Locking Sibling in Closet

If you have any information about the disappearance of Ava Marie Gonzales, please contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-2000. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.