Elizabeth Johnson gives birth to a boy on May 3.

She and Logan McQueary name him Gabriel. Logan says Johnson has trouble adjusting to motherhood. When Gabriel cries, Johnson sometimes puts him in a room by himself so she does not have to hear him.

After a heated argument with Logan in June over her parenting, Johnson flies to Boston with Gabriel to visit her grandmother. Returning to Arizona in August, she meets Tammi Peters Smith during an airport layover in Indianapolis. Johnson, crying and holding Gabriel, attracts Smith’s attention, leading to a conversation about Smith and her husband adopting the baby.

Johnson returns to Arizona without Gabriel. The baby is later found safe at the Peters Smith residence. After Gabriel’s return to Arizona, a family court judge grants joint custody to Johnson and Logan, with Johnson having Gabriel first. Three days later, when Logan tries to pick him up, Johnson tells him he will never see his son again.

Johnson initially claims she smothered Gabriel and dumped his body, but Logan does not believe her. Police confirm Johnson drove with Gabriel from Tempe to San Antonio, Texas, and was last seen with him nine days later. The next morning, she boards a Greyhound bus to Miami alone. She later tells officers she gave Gabriel to a couple at a park near their hotel. Despite extensive searches and investigations, Gabriel, who would now be 15, has never been found.

Additional Guests

Logan McQueary – Father of missing Gabriel Johnson

Sandy Peters – Great Aunt of missing Gabriel Johnson

Abel Peña – Former FBI Agent, Director of Project Absentis [a nonprofit organization with a mission to offer investigative assistance to families of missing persons]; Project Absentis (FB, TikTok, Linkedin)

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” is also a national radio show on SiriusXM channel 111, airing for two hours daily starting at 12 p.m. EST. You can also subscribe and download the daily podcasts at iHeart Podcasts.

[Feature Photo: Baby Gabriel/Handout]