PHOENIX, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- An Arizona man says he is losing hope his baby great-grandson will be found either alive or dead.
Gabriel Johnson has not been seen since Dec. 26. His mother, Elizabeth Johnson, 24, took him to a San Antonio hotel and later sent the boy's father an e-mail message saying she had smothered him, concealed the body in a diaper bag and put it in a dumpster.
Bob Johnson, 80, of Scottsdale, told The Arizona Republic that if Gabriel was still alive his mother would have revealed his whereabouts. Elizabeth Johnson has been held in the Maricopa County Jail since a judge found her legally competent, a finding her grandfather disputes.
"The sooner they find that baby, the sooner she gets out," her grandfather said.
After her arrest in Florida, Johnson denied killing Gabriel, saying she had given the boy to a San Antonio couple to adopt. Investigators say she has provided no details.
Logan McQueary, Gabriel's father, has been awarded custody. McQueary once shared a home in Tempe with Elizabeth Johnson.
Johnson said he urged his granddaughter to talk to private detectives who were also searching for Gabriel.
"She said, 'no way,'" he said. "When you look at it simply, no one wants to sit in jail. The odds of finding a body go down with each day that goes by."
