Vanessa’s Whereabouts Remain A Mystery, FBI Offers $10,000 Reward

ANSONIA — The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to the recovery of missing toddler Vanessa Morales, who was last seen Friday, Nov. 29.

Authorities are operating under the assumption the 1‑year-old girl is alive.

“The reward will be given to anyone in the community that has Vanessa in their possession and returns her unharmed, or has specific information about where Vanessa is located that leads to her recovery,” Ansonia police said in a prepared statement Thursday (Dec. 19).

Anyone with information should call the Ansonia Police Department at 203 – 735-1885 or the F.B.I. tip line 203 – 503-5555, or 800 – 225-5324.

Ansonia police held a press conference Thursday in Ansonia City Hall.

It was live streamed on Valley Indy Facebook and is embedded below. The article continues after the video.

Vanessa’s mother, Christine Holloway, 43, was found dead inside their Myrtle Avenue home in Ansonia Dec. 2. Her death was ruled a homicide.

The toddler’s father, Jose Morales, 43, of New Haven, has been identified as the suspect in Holloway’s death and in the disappearance of the child.

Police have interviewed Morales several times since finding Holloway’s body. Though police describe him as cooperating, Vanessa’s whereabouts remain a mystery three weeks after she was last seen.

Police Thursday released photos of three items that Holloway always had with her while caring for Vanessa. Police said the three items are missing.

“Whoever has Vanessa might have one or more of these items with them,” Ansonia Police Lt. Patrick Lynch said during Thursday’s press conference.

The hope is also that the public may recognize an item or items and help authorities find Vanessa.

The items (seen at the top and bottom of this story) include:

• A bright, multi-colored polka dot blanket

• A Graco car seat with base and (possibly) a teething keyring attached

• A gray Eddie Bauer First Adventure backpack diaper bag

“We may believe these items may be with Vanessa, or they may have been discarded at some point,” Lynch said.

Police said the items, if located by the public, should not be handled. Call the numbers listed in bold near the top of this story.

The Homicide Investigation

Police have not commented in detail regarding Vanessa’s father’s classification as a suspect, other to say he has been interviewed several times.

“We’re not going to release the evidence that we currently have, other than to say that we can definitely say that Jose Morales was the last person that we can say was with both Christine and Vanessa,” Lynch said.

Publicly-available court documents show that Ansonia police used a search warrant — obtained in connection to the Holloway homicide investigation — to gain access to his New Haven residence Dec. 3, the day after his girlfriend was found dead.

Once inside Ansonia police allegedly found two stun guns. Since Morales is a convicted felon, he is not allowed to possess weapons. Ansonia police called New Haven police, who placed him under arrest. Click here for a story from Dec. 5.

Morales made a brief appearance in court this week.

Law enforcement sources told The Valley Indy Dec. 6 that bloody clothes or material recovered in connection to Holloway’s death originated in a clothes donation bin on Derby Avenue near St. Michael’s Church.

Clothes were sent to a forensic lab for testing, The Hartford Courant reported Dec. 19.

After the donation bin discovery, police asked anyone with home security footage in the Route 115/Route 34 area of Derby to contact authorities to see if Morales showed up in their videos.

Ansonia police have also been trying to collect similar videos in the Myrtle Street area, where Holloway and Vanessa lived.

Ansonia police also distributed a timeline of the case Thursday. It is published below:
.

Nov. 29 – Last confirmed contact with Christine Holloway

Dec. 2, 1 p.m. – Christine’s employer requests welfare check, no contact

Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. – Christine’s family requests welfare check, Christine found deceased in the home, Vanessa Morales missing

Dec. 2 – Vanessa Morales listed as missing, silver alert issued

Dec. 3 – Search warrant executed at Jose Morales’ New Haven residence, Jose arrested by New Haven PD for possessing two stun guns and held on a $250,000 bond

Dec. 4 – Amber alert issued for Vanessa Morales

Dec. 4 – State of Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner rules Christine Holloway’s death a homicide by blunt force trauma

Dec. 17 – Jose Morales (publicly) identified as suspect in the death of Christine Hollow and disappearance of Vanessa Morales