ANSONIA, Conn. — As the rain came down on the night of December 2, 2019, Ansonia police and family members of a 43-year-old woman and her toddler learned of both a horrific discovery and an unsolved mystery.
Christine Holloway was found dead in the bathtub of her Ansonia apartment. However, investigating police officers found no sign of her 1-year-old daughter, Vanessa Morales.
The child's family has been looking for her since that fateful day.
“I knew something was wrong, but I never thought anything like this,” Vanessa’s aunt, Jodie Jacobellis told FOX61 recently. “That’s when all hell broke loose right from the beginning.”
Vanessa’s family has missed birthdays, Easters, and Christmases with the toddler.
“We still have Vanessa’s first Christmas present. We can’t let go of it and I know she’ll be too old before she comes back to play with it but it’s the last thing we have of her,” said Jacobellis.
Jacobellis said she is anchored in faith that one day she’ll see Vanessa again.
“I know she’s still out there. With whom I don’t know,” said Jacobellis.
That faith is visibly present in her living room. Each pin on a map represents places investigators have searched for Vanessa. The search stretches across Connecticut, the country, and abroad.
Jodie hopes one day she’ll be able to pin the final location of Vanessa.
“She’s not going to remember us, but we’ll always remember her and in due time when she does come home. She’ll know who we are,” said Jacobellis.
Vanessa's father, Jose Morales, was arrested and charged with Holloway's murder and named a suspect in Vanessa’s disappearance. He's currently in custody.
All the while, her family is hopeful the same justice will prevail for Vanessa too.
“We made the arrest on the homicide. We want to resolve the missing person case,” said Lt. Patrick Lynch with Ansonia Police Department.
According to Missing & Endangered Children, there are 26 missing kids in Connecticut. The earliest dating back to 1952 almost 45 years before Amber Alerts started.
Ever since the Amber Alert about missing Vanessa came out, the case has haunted the Ansonia community, police department, and especially her family.
“Domestic violence, homicide, with a missing child. A combination that you never want to come across,” said Lynch.
Even after countless tips from the public, police say Vanessa’s whereabouts are still a mystery.
“Unfortunately, we are in the same place that we were on December 2nd, 2019. Vanessa is missing and we do not know what happened to her or where she is,” said Lynch.
“It’s like she vanished in thin air and that hurts most,” said Jacobellis.
The same pain even three years later with no leads, they just want Vanessa home.
“We’re still looking for you, peanut. We will never forget you and we’ll fight for you,” said Jacobellis.
DeAndria Turner is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. She can be reached at dturner@fox61.com.
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