JONATHAN PAUL FOSTER - Aged 12 years - Houston, Texas (USA)

JONATHAN PAUL FOSTER

Case Type: Endangered Missing
DOB: Nov 9, 1998
Sex: Male
Missing Date: Dec 24, 2010
Age Now: 12
Missing City: HOUSTON
Missing State : TX
Missing Country: United States
Race: White
Height: 4'8" (142 cm)
Weight: 100 lbs (45 kg)
Hair Color: Lt. Brown
Eye Color: Blue

Case Number: NCMC1162566

Circumstances: Jonathan was last seen on December 24, 2010. He has a scar on his left foot. Jonathan may go by the nickname J.P.

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&LanguageCountry=en_US&searchLang=en_US&caseLang=en_US&orgPrefix=NCMC&caseNum=1162566&seqNum=1

KPRC Houston

27 December 2010

Amber Alert Issued For Missing Boy
Texas EquuSearch Looking For Jonathan Foster

Jonathan Foster was last seen at his family's apartment in the area of North Shepherd Drive and 43rd Street at about 1:45 p.m. on Friday.

Police said that he might be in the company of an adult woman with a raspy voice.

Jonathan's mother said he had been staying at a baby sitter's home a few doors down from where the family lived. He went home to get a video game but never returned to the baby sitter's home.

"He was supposed to run home, go get it and go back to the baby sitter's," mother Angela Davis said.

His family said he was looking forward to opening his Christmas presents and did well in school.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/26291558/detail.html

KY3

27 December 2010

Child who once lived in the Ozarks now missing in Texas‎
Disappeared in Houston on Christmas Eve#

An Amber Alert has been issued for a former Bois D'Arc elementary school student.

12-year-old Jonathan Foster vanished Christmas Eve. Jonathan's uncle, who lives in Springfield, tells KY3 News the boy had been living with family in Houston, Texas for the last year.

That's where volunteers are looking for him, along railroad tracks and through thick brush.

Houston media report the family's last contact with the boy was around 2:00 pm on Christmas Eve when he called his mother at work and said it was an emergency. When she got to the phone he wasn't there. Jonathan hasn't been seen or heard from since.

http://articles.ky3.com/2010-12-27/ozarks_26347546

KWTX

28 December 2010

Texas Boy Disappears On Christmas Eve; Police Search For Answers‎

http://www.kwtx.com/news/headlines/Texas_Boy_Disappears_On_Christmas_Eve_Police_Search_For_Answers_112553749.html?ref=749

Houston Chronicle

28 December 2010

[b]Search continues for missing 12-year-old‎[/b

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7355330.html

Fort Bend Now

28 December 2010

Ominous New Information Released On Missing 12-Year-Old Boy‎

The search for a missing 12-year-old Houston boy has taken an ominous turn with the disclosure that his mother received a “mysterious” phone call about the time the boy was last seen, and Houston Police homicide investigators have been brought into the case.

.... Houston Police are now saying the boy’s mother received what they described as a “mysterious” telephone call from a woman with a raspy voice shortly after the time the boy disappeared. Investigators have not released the nature of the call, but believe it was related to the missing boy.

HPD homicide investigators have been called in to assist in the questioning of possible witnesses. Authorities are handling the case as a possible kidnapping.

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/12/28/49668

Associated Content

28 December 2010

Missing Jonathan Foster's Mother Received Mysterious Phone Call Day He Vanished
Angela Martin Says She Received Emergency Phone Call at Work Day Son Went Missing

Jonathan Foster is 12 years old. He has been missing from his Houston home since sometime on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. According to his mother, he left his babysitter's that afternoon to go home,
retrieve a video game, then return. Jonathan hasn't been seen since, and Houston Police have issued an Amber Alert due to the suspicious nature of his disappearance. One possible lead could rest with his mother, Angela Martin, who received a mysterious phone call while at work that day.

KHOU in Houston reported Monday, the same day that investigators issued the Amber Alert for the missing 12-year-old, that Angela Martin had gotten a phone call while at work that day around 2:00 p.m.. Mary Gifford, Jonathan Foster's grandmother, told the news station, "Someone called and said it was an emergency. But by the time she picked up the phone, no one was there."

According to KHOU, the boy's stepfather may have been the last to see him at around 1:45 p.m. Christmas Eve. Jonathan lived with his mother and stepfather at Villa Nueva Apartments in Houston. His biological father and other relatives live in the neighborhood as well, and he was known to visit. However, although family members are cooperating with Child Protective Services and Houston Police investigators, they have been unable to piece together a consistent timeline.

Particularly worrisome is that Jonathan has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and, according to his grandmother, becomes easily confused.

"That's why we want him home safe," she said, issuing a plea for him to "hold on, because we're doing the best to find you."

Houston Police are admittedly confused.

"I don't know if it's an abduction," Sgt. Stuart Harris of HPD's Missing Persons Unit told the Houston Chronicle. "I don't know if he just walked off. I don't know if there's foul play involved. We have no reason to think he's a runaway. ... He's missing under suspicious circumstances, which is always a major concern for us."

The suspicious circumstances not only include who may have seen him last and the mysterious emergency phone call but also reports that he could be in the company of a woman with a raspy voice, a detail released by
Houston authorities when they issued the Amber Alert Monday. Police also have no reason to suspect that Jonathan Foster was a runaway.

Although uncertain, a break might come in the case if investigators are able to pinpoint from where -- and from possibly whom -- the emergency phone call originated.

In addition to police canvasses and other investigative measures, search organization Texas Equusearch is aiding in searching for Jonathan, scouring nearby wooded areas and railroad tracks. The team issued a call for more volunteers for the continuing search, which they resumed Tuesday as the investigation moved toward its fifth day.

Jonathan Foster is described as being nearly 5 feet tall, weighing about 100 pounds, and has blue eyes and red or auburn hair. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a tan t-shirt. The shirt had a guitar stencil on the front. He was also wearing a grey hoodie and white sneakers with a red stripe.

Anyone with information regarding the missing 12-year-old or his whereabouts is urged to call the Houston Police Department at 713-731-5223 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6158478/missing_jonathan_fosters_mother_received.html?cat=17

WIBW

28 December 2010

Body Of Burned Child Found In Texas‎
Police are searching for missing boy, 12.

Houston, Texas, police were investigating the death of a child whose burned body was found Tuesday morning in a drainage ditch.

Police got a call from someone who initially believed the remains to be burned debris, said homicide Lt. Leslie Martinez. The body is about 3 feet tall, she said.

The body apparently had been burned elsewhere, Martinez said.

The medical examiner was coming to the scene.

http://www.wibw.com/nationalnews/headlines/Body_Of_Burned_Child_Found_In_Texas_112568769.html

Fort Bend Now

28 December 2010

Police Trying To Determine If Burned Body Is That Of Missing Boy‎

Houston Police investigators are awaiting the results of a forensic examination of a badly-burned body found in a ditch early this morning to see if it is the body of missing 12-year-old Jonathan Foster.

Foster was last seen Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. near his home on Houston’s near northside.

The body was found by a passerby in a culvert along the 1500 block of Schilder in northeast Houston around 9:30 a.m. today.

The body was believed to be that of a child about 3-feet tall, but was so badly burned the gender could not be immediately determined. The area around the body was not burned, leading to the theory the victim was burned elsewhere and dumped in the ditch.

The body was taken to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office for identification. Meanwhile, the search for Foster is continuing.

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/12/28/49680

Examiner

28 December 2010

Parents of 12-yr-old boy missing since Christmas Eve questioned, car impounded

HOUSTON, Texas -- Police are questionning the parents of the 12-year-old Houston boy who disappeared on Christmas Eve, and impounded their car Tuesday.

The couple is not in police custody.

An Amber Alert has been issued and police are treating this as a missing person's case.

Scroll down for a description of Jonathan and a phone number to call police if you have any information on this case.

Earlier reports indicate Jonathan left his babysitter's house to go home and pick up a video game. He never made it. His mother last saw him at around 1:45 p.m. and reported him missing at around 9:30 p.m., police said.

Jonathan Foster lives with his mother and step father in Houston at the Villa Nueva Apartments.

Child's body found Tuesday

On Tueday morning at 9:28 a.m. a passerby discovered a body near East Hardy Toll Road, about 10 miles from the couple's apartment. The body has yet to be identified and police cannot yet say if it belongs to Jonathan.

Police say the body is too badly burned to be identified yet, and say they believe it is about 3 feet tall and was found in a shallow ditch between two buildings.

Police believe the body was burned somewhere else and dumped there.

In a news conference Tuesday, Houston Police Department spokesman, Kese Smith, said some investigators believe Jonathan is alive. Houston Police Sgt. Stuart Harris, however, said, "I don't know if it's an abduction."

HPD spokesman Kese Smith today said police cannot say if the two cases are connected until the medical examiner’s office identifies the body. Until an identification is made, Smith said police will continue searching for Jonathan.

"They are pursuing every lead they have," Smith said about investigators.

Jonathon’s grandmother, Mary Gifford, said today that she’s confident the boy will be reunited with his family.

"I believe he’s out there, I believe he’ll be found," she said. "Whoever has got him, let him go."

Asked what she would like to say to the child, Gifford replied, "Little fellow, I love you, hang in there, don’t give up, we’re looking for you."

Equusearch founder Tim Miller said this afternoon that volunteers are going back out today to look for areas that might have been burned.

According to Chron.com, sources say volunteers later found what was described as a burn site in the 9500 block of Bauman near Tidwell. The site is about one mile from where the child's body was found this morning.

About Jonathan

Jonathan Foster weighs about 100 pounds, stands about five feet tall, has red hair, an overbite, and was last seen wearing a tan shirt with a guitar on the front, jeans, black and white tennis shoes with a red stripe, and a grey hooded sweatshirt.

The missing boy is a fifth-grader at Durham Elementary in HISD. Despite his disappearance last week, an Amber Alert was not issued until Monday.

http://www.examiner.com/missing-persons-in-national/parents-of-12-yr-old-boy-missing-since-christmas-eve-questioned-car-impounded

ABC 13

29 December 2010

Source: Burned body believed to be missing boy‎

New developments are expected today in the case of a 12-year-old boy missing since Christmas Eve. Sources tell Eyewitness News that remains found yesterday are that of Jonathan Foster.

The medical examiner this morning is expected to confirm that some burned remains found yesterday are that of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster.

There is a now a make-shift memorial in front of the apartment complex where Jonathan was last seen Friday afternoon. He lives with his mother and stepfather.

Houston police are still waiting for official identification from the Medical Examiner's Office, but we're told investigators are proceeding as if the body found is that of Jonathan Foster.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7868001

KENS 5 TV

29 December 2010

Parents, babysitter questioned in 12-year-old boy's disappearance‎

HOUSTON -- The mother, stepfather and baby sitter of a missing 12-year-old Houston boy were being questioned by police on Tuesday evening.

A car belonging to Jonathon Foster’s stepfather was also taken into police custody.

Jonathon was last seen by his stepfather around 1:45 p.m. on Christmas Eve, police said. A few minutes later, Jonathon's mother received a mysterious phone call at work, said Jonathon’s grandmother Mary Gifford.

"Someone called and said it was an emergency," said Gifford. "But by the time she picked up the phone, no one was there."

Jonathon's mother reported him missing around 9:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

An Amber Alert was issued Monday evening. Investigators waited three days to issue an Amber Alert following Jonathan's disappearance because of conflicting stories from the boy’s parents, police said.

On Tuesday around 9 a.m., a child’s burned body was found in a north Houston ditch along the West Park Tollway, HPD Homicide detectives said. But police investigators have not connected the two cases.

Volunteers from Texas Equusearch resumed their search for Jonathon at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. On Monday volunteers combed the woods near the railroad tracks at T.C. Jester and 43rd in northwest Houston until dusk.

"Please hold on, because we’re doing the best to find you," said Gifford, the missing boy’s grandmother.

Jonathon suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder and, according to his grandmother, gets easily confused.

"That’s why we want him home safe," she said.

The child has short red hair and an overbite. He was last seen wearing a tan shirt, blue jeans, a gray hoodie and white sneakers with a red stripe. He stands 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact authorities.

http://www.kens5.com/news/Parents-babysitter-questioned-in-12-year-old-boys-disappearance--112597229.html

Fort Bend Now

29 December 2010

Police Sources: Woman Taken Into Custody In Foster Disappearance‎

Sources close to the investigation into the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster have told InstantNewsKaty a person had been taken into custody in connection with the case.

According to police sources, a woman was is a “family acquaintance” but not a relative has been taken into custody and will be charged with kidnapping.

Investigators plan to add a murder charge as soon as the burned body found dumped in a ditch near the Hardy Toll Road yesterday morning is positively identified as that of the Durham Elementary fifth-grader.

“We certain the body is that of Jonathan Foster, but we still need confirmation,” the source said.

That confirmation is expected as early as this afternoon from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/12/29/49698

CBS News

29 December 2010

Jonathan Foster Missing: Woman to be Charged in Disappearance of Texas 12-Year-Old, Say Sources

HOUSTON (CBS/KHOU) A woman is expected to be charged Wednesday in connection with the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster, police sources said.

The woman, who is not a relative of the boy, was taken into custody Wednesday morning, reports CBS affiliate KHOU.

Police sources said she was not being cooperative with the investigation, but detectives have collected a considerable amount of evidence linking her to the boy's disappearance.

Investigators could be seen removing evidence from the suspect's home after she was taken into custody Wednesday.

Foster was last seen by his stepfather around 1:45 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Foster's mother reported him missing around 9:30 that night.

Police didn't issue an Amber Alert for Foster until Monday, citing conflicting stories from the boy's parents.

"Until we were able to narrow down and confirm that an abduction had taken place, we couldn't issue [an Amber Alert]," said Kese Smith, an HPD spokesman.

According to Smith, police must follow certain criteria - or there's a danger that too many Amber Alerts may be issued and the public might ignore them.

The criteria include the following: the missing child must be 17 years old or younger. Investigators must believe the child has been abducted and that he or she is in "immediate danger." They must also conduct a thorough investigation to eliminate other possible reasons for the disappearance. Finally, they must have a "sufficient description" of the child, the suspect, or the vehicle used in the abduction.

Investigators questioned Foster's mother, stepfather and babysitter on Tuesday, but no arrests were made.

Texas EquuSearch was called in to help find Foster, and volunteers were focusing Tuesday on a wooded area near some railroad tracks at T.C. Jester and 43rd Street.

Meanwhile, the burned body of an unidentified child was found in a ditch in north Houston Tuesday, fueling speculation that it might be Foster.

Police would not confirm if the cases were related.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20026758-504083.html

Houston Chronicle

30 December 2010

A charge in boy's death, but motive elusive
A woman who's an acquaintance of Jonathan Foster's mother is held in the slaying


Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, was arrested at her home Wednesday morning.

A family acquaintance has been charged with capital murder in the death of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster, a Houston boy who police say was kidnapped from his home on Christmas Eve before being killed, badly burned and dumped in a ditch.

Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, was arrested Wednesday morning at her home.

"Mona Nelson has made what investigators call a self-serving statement, which places her with Jonathan. However, she has not admitted to killing him," said HPD spokesman Kese Smith. "She is the only suspect."

Jonathan disappeared before 2 p.m. on Friday. Smith said the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences late Wednesday identified a body found in a culvert Tuesday near East Hardy and Schilder Drive as Jonathan's. No signs of a fire were near his body, indicating he had been burned elsewhere.

A break in the case came when Nelson's Ford F-150 truck was spotted on surveillance video taken from an office building near the culvert.

Investigators spent hours Wednesday questioning Nelson. They believe she took Jonathan to her home near U.S. 59 and Laura Koppe, where she likely killed him and burned his body, said HPD homicide investigator Mike Miller.

He said a search of Nelson's house turned up an "incredible amount of evidence" that points to Nelson as the killer, but investigators are still trying to discern her motive.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7356276.html

39online

30 December 2010

Missing Boy's Body Identified, Woman Charged with Capital Murder‎


Charged: Mona Yvette Nelson

HOUSTON —
Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, was charged Wednesday night with capital murder for the death of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster.

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According to investigators, Nelson is a family acquaintance from the North Forest area.

Nelson was being held Thursday in Harris County Jail without bond. She was not present for her probable cause court appearance Thursday morning. Her next court appearance is slated for Monday.

Officials said surveillance video from an office building near the culvert where a burned body was found captured images of Nelson's truck.

The body was spotted by a passerby Tuesday morning in a ditch in northeast Houston near the Hardy Toll Rd. It was charred beyond recognition and dental records had to be used to determine who it was.

Harris County Insititute of Forensic Sciences identified the body late Wednesday as Jonathan's. It was a discovery his loved ones have been fearing and police have been expecting.

Jonathan was last seen alive Christmas Eve. His mother first told investigators he was with a babysitter, but she later admitted he was home alone.

Nelson's criminal record dates back to 1984 with charges for criminal mischief, aggravated robbery, possession of marijuana, theft and terroristic threat. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, she was found guilty of aggravated robbery in 1984. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the same charge in 1991, possibly for probation violation, officials said.

Nelson was in TDCJ custody 1991-94 and was paroled through October 2001.

HPD is speaking to the media at 2 p.m. Thursday. Reporter Steve Mark will be live at HPD headquarters on 39 News at 5 p.m.

http://www.39online.com/news/local/kiah-foster-murder-arrest-story,0,1039882.story

Ultimate Aldine

30 December 2010

'Only suspect' jailed in Christmas killing in Houston‎

A family acquaintance has been charged with capital murder in the death of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster, a Houston boy who police say was kidnapped from his home on Christmas Eve before being killed, badly burned and dumped in a ditch.

Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, was arrested Wednesday morning at her home.

"Mona Nelson has made what investigators call a self-serving statement, which places her with Jonathan. However, she has not admitted to killing him," said HPD spokesman Kese Smith. "She is the only suspect."

Jonathan disappeared before 2 p.m. on Friday. Smith said the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences late Wednesday identified a body found in a culvert Tuesday near East Hardy and Schilder Drive as Jonathan's. No signs of a fire were near his body, indicating he had been burned elsewhere.

A break in the case came when Nelson's Ford F-150 truck was spotted on surveillance video taken from an office building near the culvert.

Investigators spent hours Wednesday questioning Nelson. They believe she took Jonathan to her home near U.S. 59 and Laura Koppe, where she likely killed him and burned his body, said HPD homicide investigator Mike Miller.

He said a search of Nelson's house turned up an "incredible amount of evidence" that points to Nelson as the killer, but investigators are still trying to discern her motive.

"That's the million-dollar question," Miller said.

Had spent time in prison

In 1984, Nelson was charged with aggravated robbery and later pleaded guilty in exchange for 10 years' probation, court records show. In 1991, her probation was revoked and she was sent to prison. It was unclear from court documents late Wednesday how she violated probation or how long she spent behind bars.

Jonathan's mother, Angela Davis, crumpled into a couch Wednesday afternoon in the small cottage in northwest Houston where her son was last seen alive.

"I feel responsible because I left him here," she said, crying and staring blankly at the front door. "I'm his mama. I'm supposed to protect him."

She knew little about the fate of her son, nicknamed J.P. for Jonathan Paul, and sometimes called "Frog" by his aunt for the stick-skinny legs he had as a newborn.

She did know that police had a woman in custody, someone she said she'd met only once, on the night of Jonathan's disappearance.

Nelson was friends with her roommate and Jonathan's frequent babysitter, Sharon Ennamorato. Ennamorato described Nelson as a friend who used to work in maintenance at an apartment complex across the street.

On Friday morning, both Davis and Ennamorato had to work, and Jonathan was going to stay home alone until his mom could make it home, around 1 or 2 p.m. They said they left Jonathan with specific instructions: He was not to leave the house, which is nestled next to an apartment complex on Oak Street in northwest Houston. If he had any problems, he should run next door and tell his neighbor.

Davis had moved into the little cottage with Ennamorato on Dec. 14, after she and Jonathan's stepfather, David Davis, split up. She said he had gotten angry and slapped the boy. Davis considered taking Jonathan to her mother's house, she said, but she didn't want to uproot him when he'd just started classes at Durham Elementary School in November.

That morning at work, a colleague told Davis her son had called the office, and had asked for Ennamorato's number. She was only told about the call after the fact, she said.

Then a woman called back, saying it was an emergency. By the time Davis made it to the phone, she said, the line was dead.

Concerned, Davis called the house phone again and again as she drove to the cottage, she said. Someone picked up just minutes before she pulled up around 2 p.m.

A woman answered, she said, and Davis identified herself and asked to speak her son. She heard a woman say: "Is your mama's name Angela?" she said.

And she heard Jonathan say: "Yes ma'am, my mama's name is Angela." And then the phone went dead.

When she opened the door moments later, cartoons were still on the TV, and a game was up on the computer screen. A can of Tootsie rolls sat on the computer desk.

"I hollered, 'Jonathan, mama's home! Where are you?'" There was no answer.

"The only thing missing in this house is his tan T-shirt with a guitar on it, a pair of jeans, his white sneakers and his black stuffed cat that my grandmother made him," Davis said. "There was no struggle."

That night, she said, Nelson stopped by the house. She told Davis she had come to the house that morning looking for Ennamorato, and that Jonathan had answered the door wearing no shirt, and it seemed like someone was in the house with him.

'A gift from God'

Davis said she's not pretending to be a perfect parent. When felt her life spiraling out of control years ago, she sent her children to live with relatives.

"He hasn't seen his father since he was 4 years old," she said. "When he was 6, his father told him on the phone that he was a problem in his life and he didn't want nothing to do with him."

She calls him a twice-born child, because his heart had stopped when she was pregnant with him, and the doctors thought he'd died. But they picked up the heartbeat, and he was born a healthy little boy.

"That's why his name is Jonathan, which means a gift from God," she said. "I don't know how God could give me that gift, and then take him from me."

http://www.ultimatealdine.com/stories/225417-only-suspect-jailed-in-christmas-killing-in-houston

KWTX

30 December 2010

Family Friend Charged in Death of 12-Year-Old Houston Boy‎

http://www.kwtx.com/news/headlines/Family_Friend_Charged_in_Death_of_12-Year-Old_Houston_Boy.html?ref=519

Houston Chronicle

30 December 2010

HPD says suspect admitted dumping child's body‎

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7359495.html

Fort Bend Now

30 December 2010

Probable Cause Hearing Held For Woman Charged In Boy's Murder‎

A probable cause hearing was held this morning for the woman charged with capital murder in the death of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster.

The hearing revealed new details about the boy’s death, but also raised questions that someone else may be involved and failed to provide a motive in the killing.

Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, was arrested yesterday in the disappearance and death of the Durham Elementary fifth-grader on Christmas Eve.

Nelson was not present for this morning’s court hearing because of an undisclosed medical condition

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/12/30/49709

Examiner

30 December 2010

Jonathan Foster's brutal death: Houston Police million dollar question - 'Why?'

A 12-year-old child is dead, his death so brutal and a parent's worst nightmare; police say the million dollar question is: "Why?"

Why would a middle-aged woman enter the home of two women living with a child, kidnap that child, murder him and burn his body, dump him in a ditch, and then come back to the house that evening to tell the child's mother she'd been there earlier in the day?

Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, who is suspected of initially entering the home where Jonathan, his mom, Angela Davis, and her roommate, who is also Jonathan's frequent babysitter, Sharon Ennamorato, lives, is now also suspected to have been the woman who answered the phone when Jonathan's mom called to check on her son.

Jonathan and Davis moved in with Ennamorato Dec. 14 after Davis split up with Jonathan's stepfather.

http://www.examiner.com/missing-persons-in-national/jonathan-foster-s-brutal-death-houston-police-million-dollar-question-why

Fox News

Published December 30, 2010

Woman Charged With Murder in Death of 12-Year-Old Texas Boy

HOUSTON -- A woman has been charged with capital murder in the death of a 12-year-old Houston boy whose badly burned body was found in a ditch this week following his Christmas Eve disappearance.

Mona Yvette Nelson, 44, was arrested Wednesday. She remained in jail Thursday on no bond. Court records did not list an attorney.

Police say Jonathan Foster, who had been left home alone, was kidnapped from his home on Christmas Eve before being killed and burned.

"Mona Nelson has made what investigators call a self-serving statement, which places her with Jonathan. However, she has not admitted to killing him," Houston police spokesman Kese Smith told the Houston Chronicle. "She is the only suspect."

Homicide investigator Mike Miller said investigators believe Nelson took the boy to her home, where she likely killed him and burned his body.

Miller said that while a search of Nelson's home turned up an "incredible amount of evidence," investigators are still trying to determine a motive.

Jonathan's mother, Angela Davis, said she'd met Nelson only once, on the night of her son's disappearance.

Nelson was friends with Davis' roommate and the boy's frequent babysitter, Sharon Ennamorato, who described Nelson as a friend who used to work in maintenance at an apartment complex across the street from the home.

Davis had moved into the home with Ennamorato on Dec. 14, after she and Jonathan's stepfather split up. Both Davis and Ennamorato had to work on Friday morning, so Foster was to stay home alone till his mother was expected to return in the early afternoon.

While at work that morning, a colleague told Davis her son had called the office and was asking for Ennamorato's number.

Then a woman called back, saying it was an emergency. Davis said that by the time she made it to the phone, the line was dead.

Concerned, Davis called the house phone repeatedly as she drove there, she said. Someone picked up just minutes before she pulled up around 2 p.m.

She said when a woman answered, Davis asked to speak to her son. She heard a woman say: "Is your mama's name Angela?" she said.

And she heard Jonathan say: "Yes ma'am, my mama's name is Angela." Then the phone went dead.

When she opened the door moments later, cartoons were still on the TV, and a game was up on the computer screen. She called for her son, but got no answer.

"The only thing missing in this house is his tan T-shirt with a guitar on it, a pair of jeans, his white sneakers and his black stuffed cat that my grandmother made him," Davis said. "There was no struggle."

Davis said that Nelson stopped by the house that night, telling her that she had come to the house that morning looking for Ennamorato, and that Jonathan had answered the door wearing no shirt, and it seemed like someone was in the house with him.

Court records show that in 1984, Nelson was charged with aggravated robbery. She later pleaded guilty in exchange for 10 years' probation. Her probation was revoked in 1991 and she was sent to prison. The newspaper reports that it was unclear from court records how long she spent in prison.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/30/woman-charged-murder-case-missing-houston-year-old/#ixzz19dITFVTF

ABC News

Dec. 30, 2010

By EMILY FRIEDMAN

Mona Nelson Arrested for Murder of 12-Year-Old Jonathan Foster
Foster Was Last Seen on Christmas Eve

Relatives of the fifth grade boy who was found dead and burned beyond recognition say that they have no idea who the woman is that police have charged with the child's murder.

Mona Nelson is "an acquaintance" of the family of Texas fifth grader Jonathan Foster, whose body was found Monday in a Houston ditch, police said.

Nelson, 44, has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bond. According to ABC News' Houston affiliate KTRK, Nelson did not appear at a court hearing this morning because of an "unspecified medical issue."

Late Wednesday, the severely burned body was finally identified as that of Jonathan Foster, the 12-year-old boy who vanished on Christmas Eve. The cause of death has not yet been determined.

"Nelson has given what investigators say is a self-serving statement that places her with Jonathan, but she has not admitted to killing him," said Houston Police Department spokesman Kese Smith.

Smith said that Nelson is the only suspect in the case.

Police also said their search for Jonathan was delayed by several days because the boy's mother, Angela Davis, and stepfather, David Davis, originally gave cops conflicting information.

Nelson is believed to be the woman who the mother claims answered the phone at her home on Christmas Eve, a chilling call that had authorities concerned for Foster's safety.

Mary Gifford, the boy's grandmother, said that when her daughter called her son back on Friday, a woman she did not know picked up the phone.

"My daughter asked to speak with her son, and then the woman asked [Jonathan] if Angela was his mother," said Gifford. "He said, 'Yes ma'am, Angela is my mother,' and then the phone went dead."

Gifford, who had been holding out hope that her grandson would be found alive, told ABCNews.com today that she's devastated.

"I'm trying to hang in there, but what would be going through your mind if this happened to your child?" she said. "I keep thinking 'Why did she do it? Did she torture him? Why didn't she just let him come home?"

Gifford said she didn't know Nelson and that she wasn't sure if her daughter knew her either.

Was Amber Alert Too Late for Jonathan?



Glenn Scrimsher, Jonathan's uncle who had cared for the boy for four years until November 2009 when he went to live with his grandmother, said today that he had always worried about his nephew living with his mother.

"I was worried," said Scrimsher. "Because of my sister's state of mind and her lifestyle was not that of a caring mother who looks after her children."

Scrimsher said he didn't know Jonathan was living with his mother until after the fact. Foster moved back in with Davis just last month.

"The last time I saw him was the day he was leaving for his grandmother's," said Scrimsher. "He was happy to see his grandmother. He called her his granny."

"He loved her very much and he missed her," Scrimsher said.

Foster's grandmother has said that she believed the Houston police waited too long to issue an Amber Alert for the missing boy. The alert was issued on Monday afternoon, nearly three days since he had last been seen.

"Regardless of how this turns out, my goal is to get the Amber Alert law changed," she said. "There should not be criteria for an Amber Alert that depends on whether cops think the kid has run away."

"The cops kept thinking [Jonathan] ran away," she said. "But he had waited too many years to go back with his mama, that's what he wished for on his birthdays, to be back with his mama... That doesn't sound like a kid who wants to run."

Smith defended the timing of the Amber Alert, saying that conflicting accounts of what happened the day Jonathan went missing made the case even harder for investigators.

While he wouldn't specify what the conflicting stories were about in great detail, Smith said that the mother and the boy's stepfather David Davis had originally said that Jonathan was home with a babysitter when he disappeared, but later said he had been at home alone.

Woman Arrested in Death of Burned Boy

Only when they could pin down an accurate description of the boy, as well as identify the person who might have been with him at the time of his disappearance -- a woman with a raspy voice -- the officers issued an Amber Alert.

"If we issued an Amber Alert on every case, we'd be inundating the public with alerts for children who really did just run away," said Smith.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/mona-nelson-arrested-murder-burning-jonathan-foster/story?id=12508380&page=3