Search for Isabel Celis Leads To Cadaver Alert In Home And Local Landfill- Family Barred From Home

Tucson, AZ-  Missing since Saturday morning around 8 am, six year old Isabel Celis was believed to be taken from the safety of her bedroom sometime after 11PM on Friday evening.

After Isa’s Mother Becky Celis left for work as a pediatric nurse at Tuscon Medical Center her Father told police he went to wake her at about 8am and she was not in her bed.   The blinds in her room were askew and her window was open.

The screen to her window had been removed.  Sergio Celis’s call t0 911 has not been released.

Early this morning,  the FBI deployed a scent tracking dog and a cadaver canine to the Celis home.   The family was then asked to make other living arrangements for the near future as the dogs produced evidence requiring further investigation.

Police Chief Roberto Villasenor would not reveal what was found at the home of first-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis.

Police have not said what that is,  but sources close to the family not willing to be identified have confirmed to www.blinkoncrime.com that the specially trained cadaver dog  alerted to the detection of cadaverine.

The home is now being treated as a crime scene.

Police have not ruled out the parents as possible suspects, nor have they commented on whether or not the residence of a sex offender in the immediate neighborhood has been searched after obtaining new warrants today that have been sealed.   Another residence on the same street as the Celis family was searched this morning.

Late this afternoon, investigators headed to the landfill where the trash from the neighborhood was emptied Saturday prior to police having an opportunity to secure the scene.

 

Isabel’s disappearance is eerily similar to that of 10 month old Lisa Irwin , missing from her home since October 3, 2011 and has not been found.

 

Becky and Sergio Celis,  Isabel’s parents have not spoken publicly about their daughter’s disappearance.

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333 Comments

  1. Katy says:

    I understand the concerns regarding the dogs amount of barking. How often do you know dogs who bark just to bark? After so many times we tend to tune them out. My dog we have had for a few months barks like crazy everytime our 18 y/o goes to the bathroom or does anything. Resulting in the entire group barking as if a stranger had entered for all hours of the night. Had this scenario happened at my house my dogs would have been completely ignored. To be completely honest.

    Also, the sun comes out very early and bright there. Does not mean a ton of people are out and about. The only time I can recall many people out snd about before 8am on a Sat. would be at the casino.

    However this may have happened the perp did not plan on video surveillance.

    Seems to me they are treating this more of a recovery than a rescue. They are building the toughest case against someone to where they cannot get dropped through a loop hole in the system. leak proof. props to LE for doing exactly what should be done.

  2. LaurieO says:

    The neighbor hearing the dogs bark at 6:30 and the male voices may not be connected at all. We are all tying it to the case, when it may just be a coincidence. At this point, we can’t know for sure, but I hope LE doesn’t ignore other stuff because this was stated.
    ———————————————————————–

    Ode says:
    April 26, 2012 at 8:10 pm
    I will try and find a link but I thought I heard earlier that Isabele’s uncle knocked on a neighbor’s door around 8AM yet 911 was not called untill 8:15.
    ———————————————————————–
    Ode, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to talk to neighbors before calling 911. Remember, if you think a child has been taken, you are going to be running all over the place, checking here and there, yelling, panicking, and hoping and praying the child is just a door or 2 down for some reason. JMO!! Lord, please lead LE to this little one!!

  3. Katy says:

    April 26, 2012 at 8:10 pm
    I will try and find a link but I thought I heard earlier that Isabele’s uncle knocked on a neighbor’s door around 8AM yet 911 was not called untill 8:15
    ___________________________________________________________________

    So the uncle was around the house at some point the morning she vanished? Please post the link to this information. Thank you.

  4. Ode says:

    We do not know where on the property search dogs hit on something. A hit on the red car is as possible as a hit in her bedroom or anywhere else. She could not have been driven away in a disabled car so why are they removing things from the trunk of that red car. Who puts a six year old to bed in the same clothes that they have been in playing until after 11PM at a ballpark. The small alley/path between the Celis’ home and the neighbor’s home is not access to anywhere. JMHO I think she was put in the red car to hide her from Mom and the dogs until she could be taken away after 7:30AM when Mom left. If my little girl was gone I would start looking immediately but I would also call 911 straight away before I called anyone to come help me look for her…she is only 6 for heaven sakes, call 911 first than your relatives unless they are already at your house. We are going to know what happened in the case sooner than later I do believe.

  5. Patricia says:

    blink said:

    Father was at ballpark later than the rest of the family to clean up and Isa was with him.

    This morning on the today show it was reported that the “father put Isabel to bed that night.”

    Is it possible that Isa never came home that night. Maybe mother and boys were already asleep when father got home, so they did not see anything. I wish we had a definate statement about that night from teh family.

  6. Ode says:

    After reading through the NG show transcript from last night the Uncle was with a police officer when he approached the neighbor so 911 may well have been called first as they should have been.

  7. nana2 says:

    1forall says:
    April 26, 2012 at 11:18 am

    snip)

    What surveillance video angles? AFAIK LE has not released any surveillance video to the public.

    ” What does a faik le mean? Are you calling the security guy a fake? ”

    afaik = As Far As I Know le= Law Enforcement

    If that’s already been answered I apologize..

  8. Rose says:

    Regarding press management, failure to take questions, etc, someone with a similar strategy was recently named social worker of the year for outreach to parents in just this position. may have done so here & shared press conference tips. I see Sergio as a more deferential type who’d be accepting.
    If family was involved all I can see is the classic innocent mistake,, honey I was so tired I forgot she was in the car & left her sleeping on the backseat when I went to bed type of thing.

  9. Rose says:

    It’s also possible she never came home from ballpark.
    That he thought she’d left with wife & went out on way home.
    I take it he’s not been polyed?

    If LE is saying everyone is a POI, they either refused to submit to a poly or failed it, imo.

    B

  10. Bridget says:

    I think it would be good to know what time the mother left for work. The “male voices” heard by the neighbor may well have been the father and the uncle. If they were out there at 6:30am by Isa’s room, they knew she was gone or where she was. I have a very hard time believing that a stranger would break into a home that had 2 adults, 3 kids, 4 dogs and possibly an uncle all there? And a stranger taking her during daylight at 6:30am with all of them there? I don’t think so. I think the father knows what happened and waited until the mom left to move Isa or she knows what happened too and is covering for her husband. Could they have been staging the scene at 6:30am and after it was all worked out, the father called 911 around 8:00am?? Just throwing this out there. Or I could be wrong and a complete stranger did take her through the window with 5-6 people and 4 dogs in the home.

  11. Ode says:

    Could pick up at the ballpark be Saturday and could that be why the landfill was searched?

  12. Cindy says:

    How far is the ballpark from the home? Walking distance?

  13. Flo says:

    You don’t supposed that neighbors camera picked up someone putting blanket and pillows later on that week in the red disabled car.

  14. T. Ruth says:

    Is it possible this case is about custody? Are the boys from the same Dad as Isa? Is it possible Dad has secreted little Isa away because he and wife are getting ready for d.i.v.o.r.c.e.? I find their behaviors strange and I find LE’s calling off the search so soon strange as well.

    I have no idea, with so little information, but the parents sound like they’re hiding something, with their “keep the focus on Isa, not us” attitudes. The other thing that makes me wonder about this, is there is very little reference in Becky’s photos and particularly her wall to her husband. Quite a few *girl’s night out* references. IDK, maybe I’m the only one who has a hubby who is my best friend, with whom I do most everything.

  15. sunshine says:

    ode, that’s an excellent question

  16. sunshine says:

    according to the Tucson Government website, there is no trash pickup in residential areas anywhere in the city on saturdays. Here is a link to the pick up map:

    http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/sites/default/files/esd/pickupmap03_1.pdf

    i am trying to see if there is any info on trash collection for dumpsters or pick up at Freedom Park, where Isa was allegedly on friday night.

    Also, now the police are asking for people who were at the baseball game at Freedom Park friday night to contact them, especially people who have video of the event. Here is the link to that article:

    http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/17836386/day-7-finding-isabel

  17. Kimberly says:

    Oh God forgive me for my pondering thoughts.

    Hiding something vs. PROTECTING someone? (say a minor)?

    Did the brothers have friends over that night?

  18. wpg says:

    If it’s accurate that the young lady next door lives in a guest house, it would be interesting to hear from the other occupants of the home what they, if anything, heard.

    NGrace didn’t ask the young lady if she was home Friday evening and what, if anything, she may have heard or seen as far as the family returning home – - the Mom first and then the Dad? – - after the baseball game . . . or did I miss that?

  19. Ode says:

    I see no mention of Isa’s shoes. They mention the navy blue shirt and navy shorts. Was Isa’s shoes found at home? You would at least take her shoes off before putting her in bed. If Isa passed wearing her shoes would they be able to find decomp on her shoes after being taken off. They may evan find fingerprints which of course the parents may have touched so I do not know if that would do any good. I am sure LE knows all this.

  20. justice23 says:

    Blink …

    In your opinion, did the public plea in front of the cameras a few nights ago by the parent’s (specifically by Sergio, the dad) raise any of your suspicions and seem a little staged to you?

    Something about the way he seemed to be trying to make himself cry and the expressions on his face despite his plea to “never give up looking for his daughter” seemed a little fake and contrived to me but maybe I’m just naturally cynical on cases such as this.

  21. justice23 says:

    On Nancy Grace last night, the neighbor stated the Celis’s 3 dogs were outside and going crazy around the time she heard male voices allegedly having a conversation. Does anyone know if the dogs were tied somewhere in the back yard where they couldn’t have gotten to the 2 men near the window? The neighbor never mentioned either way, and no one ever asked but it seems weird to me if the dogs were going crazy because of the men there, if they weren’t tied up in the yard, why wouldn’t the dogs have gone after them? But even more to the point, wouldn’t the dogs only have gone as crazy as the neighbor stated they were on seeing 2 “strange” men in their yard instead of possibly 2 men they actually knew and were familiar with, like say the dad and/or the uncle?

    My point is, unless the dogs had an issue with certain family members, I would think the dogs would only go crazy like the neighbor stated they did on seeing/hearing strange men they weren’t familiar with near their house, not someone they actually knew, but I’ve only been following this case since Monday night so maybe I missed something.

  22. Blink says:

    @justice 23
    Heart u, but I commented extensively with pictures and all

  23. justice23 says:

    Sorry, Blink … I’ve been in and out lately so I’m really behind on my cases, lol. I’ll go back and re-read everything I missed first, THEN ask questions {:)

    Have a great weekend!

  24. Cindy says:

    What is the probability that the screen was removed from the inside of the house to remove someone or something instead of from the outside?

  25. justice23 says:

    Although Nancy Grace tends to perterb me in more ways than one since the Anthony case, at times she is good at getting details no one else has because of certain guests that appear on her show (why I don’t know, since she insults pretty much everyone, but I digress). Here is part of a transcript from her Wednesday, April 25th show as well as the full link. Very informative regarding specifics of the case if you read all of them since this case began last Friday. I haven’t completely ruled out a drug-related or drug cartel scenario considering it’s Tucson and in the last few yrs they have become the kidnapping capital of the US. Several of Nancy’s guests (including some of the lawyers) have stated the drug angle in this case which I find a bit odd considering lawyers usually can’t agree on anything.

    (snipped)

    GRACE: To Steve Moore, former fed with the FBI, also worked in Tucson.

    Steve, what do you know about this area and, number two, we always make fun of the nosy neighbor, Gladys Kravitz, but the reality is a nosy neighbor can give very important information.

    STEVE MOORE, FORMER FBI AGENT AND VIOLENT CRIME INVESTIGATOR: Yes, the nosy neighbor is very valuable. I did do some work while I was stationed in L.A. in Tucson. I know the area fairly well. The police right now are throwing out a very wide net. I don`t think they have any kind of idea who it is. What concerns me is that rather than asking for consent to search the house, they`re getting a warrant.

    GRACE: Yes, I noticed that, too, Steve Moore. And what can you tell me about this particular area and the circumference of the area? Is it residential? Commercial? What?

    MOORE: Right along Craycroft, there is an entire area where there are — there are drug — there are drug deals going on. There are large drug shipments. Most of my surveillance in that area was done on drug cases.

    http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1204/25/ng.01.html

  26. Flo says:

    The father I read over at Scared Monkeys yesterday had to go to court about the dogs. Running all over the neighborhood, no tags on some, no vaccine.

    I will see if I can find out when it was. Was the day of the abduction I dont know, but ANOTHER coinsidence.

    Very busy streets near there. They could have let them loose so the guys may not hear them if they had anything to do with it.

  27. justice23 says:

    And here is the transcript/link for just last night’s where the neighbor talks for half the show about what she saw/heard. According to the neighbor, the window in question IS in fact the larger one closer to the ground directly across from the fence and directly across from her (neighbor’s) own.

    I watched Nancy Grace last night and they specifically showed the window and it was NOT the small ones some stations had reported earlier and the reporter addressed this question with the neighbor as well. The neighbor stated earlier reports were wrong and Isa’s window was directly across from hers over the fence. They showed the window on the show and it also showed the screen removed and off kilter from the actual window as if someone had toyed with it. This window is only a couple feet off the ground compared to the smaller windows everyone was referring to before which are actually to the left of Isa’s window (according to the neighbor).

    The neighbor also stated that she rarely saw the adults outside the home, but often saw Isa and her brothers playing in either the front yard or backyard. Occasionally she said Isa would play with the dogs in the backyard as well. She didn’t know the family well and had only seen them in passing on the street, but she said Isa occasionally played w/a little girl down the street who lived just a few houses down from herself (which reminded me a little of the Cantu case to some degree). The neighbor seemed credible but I got the impression she lived alone in the home, although I may be mistaken on that. Just the impression I got from her interview.

    Worth reading entire transcript.

    http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1204/26/ng.01.html

    Here is the actual video of Grace’s show and interview with the neighbor which also shows Isabel’s window.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-1gFSQ3ot0

  28. Flo says:

    O K I found info about dogs. Sounds like he does not tie them up.

    « Reply #121 on: April 26, 2012, 03:37:57 PM »

    ——————————————————————————–

    RAW VIDEO: Isabel Celis’ father appears in city court

    TUCSON – The father of missing 6-year-old Isabel Celis was in City Court this morning for an arraignment hearing for eight dog-related citations.

    Sergio Celis’ charges include: two counts of Dog Running At Large, three counts of No Current License and three counts of No Current Vaccination.

    http://www.kvoa.com/news/raw-video-isabel-celis-father-appears-in-city-court/

  29. Flo says:

    « Reply #182 on: April 27, 2012, 03:55:52 PM »

    ——————————————————————————–

    Our late (7:30pm) games here are over at 9pm. Even with cleanup we’re out of there no later than 9:35 bathrooms and all. Did anyone at the park stay with the Celis family the entire time and leave when they did?

  30. wpg says:

    justice23,

    Thanks for the links.

    Yeah, it’s not clear if the young lady next door is the only occupant or not. Earlier reports said she lived in the guest house (which appears to be attached to the back of the house). If she does live alone, man oh man, she’s fairly courageous to give all the media interviews.

    Not surprised she wasn’t on Nancy Grace tonight . . . LE probably has her for extensive interviewing now.

    On tonight’s show, Natisha Lance (she’s great) said that while the CNN crew was there the father drove past his house twice, as a passenger in a white Cadillac with tinted windows – - – she spotted and noted the rosary being worn. They showed video of the drive-bys along the east/garage side lane of the home. Natisha Lance also said that the crew could see the Cadillac eventually end up at a home down the block and 3 people got out . . . the t-shirt with Isabel’s face was spotted. which I presume is the grandparent’s home.

    Looked a little creepy with those tinted windows.
    IDK, maybe they were taking a look around the home and made a left on East Cooper Street after the news about the 5 people (3 females, 2 males) LE wants to talk to.

    (snipped)

    “Detectives tell Tucson News Now, they believe the group was walking eastbound along the northern side of Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, located at 215 South Craycroft, at approximately 1:00 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, 2012, the day Celis was reported missing.
    Police say the group may have been walking in the direction of or directly to East Cooper Street.”

    http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/17859236/tucson-police-seek-five-potential-witnesses-in-isabel-celis-case

    map of Freedom Park/baseball game), Isabel’s home at 5602 and her gp’s.
    Less than a 10 minuted drive from the game to home:

    http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Freedom+Park,+Tucson,+Arizona,+United+States&daddr=5602+E+12th+Street+Tuscon+Arizona+to:5701+E+12th+Street+Tuscon+Arizona&hl=en&ll=32.209134,-110.877585&spn=0.026906,0.034075&sll=32.197719,-110.88584&sspn=0.02691,0.034075&geocode=FQ1N6wEdLQRk-SEe95129oRGqw%3BFc2k6wEd8jZk-SkPekjXvW_WhjHitdCkOh00XQ%3BFWqm6wEdsT9k-Sn1STevvW_WhjHJ2QPAWEjlRA&t=h&mra=ls&z=15

    ________

    Blink, there was a graphic shown of the coverage of the Moore’s security cameras plus a security camera capturing the side lane and rear corner of Isabel’s home, attached to the large white building sitting on a diagonal in the lot just east of the home.
    Can you get a capture of that graphic?
    Looks like LE should have some pretty good surveillance materials to look at.

  31. Flo says:

    Seems maybe, Le may have picked up something around one or later that makes them want to find potential witnesses.

    http://www.azfamily.com/news/Tucson-PD-seeks-5-potential-witnesses-in-disappearance-of-Isabel-Celis-149308995.html

  32. wpg says:

    Oops, forgot to mention that the map shows the St. Joseph’s Church along the route, the nightclubs mentioned in the Tuscon News Now story, the large white diagonal building, etc.

  33. Katy says:

    My question is did Isabella make it home Friday night? Did the mom see her past the baseball game? Could this be reasoning for all the silence?

    On day 7, police are looking for potential witnesses to come forward, and they ask for any video from the baseball game where Isabel was present that Friday the night before she vanished.

    After 7 days, police said they have a tremendous amount of information that they are going through and although they cannot go into detail, they said they feel they have made progress compared to the first few days of the investigation.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47213228

  34. melissab says:

    Who is the sketchy/tweaky looking young guy and his Dad that are supposedly neighbors of the Celis’ that were seen going into the courtyard door day before yesterday, I think? When they showed them being asked by LE what were they doing there and do they live there they weren’t giving answers but at the beginning of the video it says the father and son were questioned for many hours. Do you know what/whom I am talking about? I am not a good researcher if you remember but I know you or the Blinkster’s here will know who they are. Hopefully! Thanks! My thought is maybe they are close enough to the family or Dad to do some dirty work for him or they might have been going to rob the home? Who knows? I would love to know their criminal history and was one/both of them extremely fond of Isa??????

  35. wpg says:

    Found the graphic showing cameras in relation to the home and the lanes and streetways . . . HLN just posted the portion of tonight’s Nancy Grace with the owner of Moore’s security:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiyntdI4aYo

    Graphic is around the 0:30 second mark . . . entire clip is worth a watch (imo).

  36. Rose says:

    search youtube under Isabel Celis & about 21 down you will see surveillance video posted by tucsonazpd.
    It says 0 views, but I was one….

  37. Ode says:

    I can not get that disabled red car out of my head. I can not find it confirmed in MSM but on various blogs it is said that pillows were removed from the trunk. This must just be rumor but if true someone would either care enough about her to comfort her perhaps in death. Who has pillows in the trunk of a car that is disabled? Mechanics that want to be comfortable while working on it..NOO. Or the abductor perhaps picked her up out of bed while sleeping and carried her with pillows through the window. It would be interesting to know what beding if any was missing from Isa’s bed. Perhaps the abductor or abductors killed her and hid her in the car until they could come back and remove her…but why?

  38. Ode says:

    On the other hand about the red car if it had true evidence in the trunk why would they not take the whole car for more extensive investigation….sooo..maybe the car is not that important or they want to see what activity happens around the car now. Blink do they have to get a warrant to take the car?

  39. Ode says:

    I brought this over from SM. Has everyone looked at this video? The discussion of a figure that seems to be lurking in the upper right side near the gate the 5 pass through is spooky. Is it someone? Or have I been looking to long at the exiting cricket player in florida?
    ******
    http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=13016.200

    Re: Tucson police search for missing 6-year-old girl – Isabel Mercedes Celis
    « Reply #204 on: April 27, 2012, 10:10:57 PM »

    ——————————————————————————–
    Quote from: labubske on April 27, 2012, 09:28:26 PM
    The video of the people walking has been released:

    http://www.azfamily.com/video/raw/RAW-Surveillance-video-released-in-Isabel-Celis-case-149325955.html

    Someone comes out from the side of the screen…I see it plain as day. Look to the left when the group has made it past the wall.

  40. Ode says:

    Sorry to be a blog hog but it looks as if the 5 in video may have turned and looked at the unknown shadow and may spoke?

  41. wpg says:

    melissab,

    May have found the video you are referring to by happenstance.

    When I clicked on the video for this article dated today
    “Isabel Celis: Tucson Police Looking For Group Seen On Surveillance Video”
    a video on other missing cases came up first, then a commercial, THEN the video that has the father and son as you described (the son who they said had a tense interview with investigators), plus some footage of a high-risk S-Offender living 5 doors down from Isabel.

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/isabel-celis-tucson-police-group-surveillance-video/story?id=16233873#.T5wCQUqIudM

    This is the same “son” that is interviewed in this video from April 26:

    “Isabel Celis’ neighbors: “She’s still alive and she’s coming home”
    http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/149181385.html

    mellisab, hope this helps.

  42. Mermaid14 says:

    Does anyone know if the Celis’ dogs were inside or outside the house? That neighbor’s statement was critical, it goes to timeline and if she says their dogs were barking loudly it just doesn’t seem like they would sleep through that. Wow, did not know about the cadaver dog, haven’t seen that on any news reports.

  43. Mermaid14 says:

    If the info about cadaver dog is true, why would they be trying to identify all those people in the videos?? Wouldn’t it have to have been a family member? Obviously they would want to see if there were witnesses to anything even if they suspect the immediate family. Also they were already searching nearby waterways. What doesn’t make a whole lot of sense is that the neighbor said it was almost daylight when the noises woke her up. Why would a kidnapper wait until daylight to make an abduction? Doesn’t make sense, they would not want to be seen.

  44. Mermaid14 says:

    Time to polygraph both Mom and Dad. If it’s good enough for Mark Klaas, why should they be any different?

  45. helpfindisa says:

    If you view the extended video on YouTube, you will see that the person to the left of the screen who is hiding actually removes the screen from the window.

    which youtube please?
    B

  46. helpfindisa says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9ZLqsW-cNYg

    Make sure you view it on your computer in FULL SCREEN. It extends the view so you can see the man hiding as the group passes, then walks over to the window and removes the screen. It’s at the end of the video. The video ends at that point.

    helpfindlisa- that is absolutely not the Celis home, and that is nobody removing a screen, he walks past the fence area, which is INSIDE of. See below- they exit into E. Cooper St.

    G=Guy.

  47. Rose says:

    This youtube from Tucson police dept
    Check out this video on YouTube:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCXyaJnIQWE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

  48. wpg says:

    From this afternoon’s LE presser:

    “Pacheco says at least one person has come forward, to say they are one of five people seen in a surveillance video that was released to the public on Friday. Detectives say they will be talking to him, to see what information he is able to provide in the case.”

    http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/17901173/tucson-police-provide-update-on-isabel-celis-case

    I watched the presser and the 6th person in the video was asked about and addressed by LE in kind of a skirted manner . . .

    Good that they have 1/5 to lead them to the other 4 (maybe leading to “#6″?)

    Blink, much thanks for the circled area. This is scarey close to the Celis home – - – like a matter of paces.

    On google earth, there is a large dumpster behind that wall towards the street that I believe abutts it.

    They know the identity of G6, no doubt in my mind. I am not thinking they have a security guard on foot behind that wall at that hour, most especially if they have mounted cameras with infared and motion technology.

    B

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