Found Deceased AZ - Isabel Mercedes Celis, 6, Tucson, 20 April 2012 *Arrest* #26

[Owutatangledweb]

Voter’s Registration
Republican
FL
09/28/2006
First Name
CHRISTOPHER
Middle Name
M
Last Name
CLEMENTS
Address
3916 E 11TH ST
City
PANAMA CITY
State
FL
Postal Code
32404
Party
Republican
Date Of Registration
09/28/2006

Thank you. This is a 2006 registration. I was just looking for something placing him in FL in 2011 as stated in the quote.

 

[cvaldez1975]

• April 20, 2012: 11 p.m., Isabel Mercedes Celis went to bed in her bedroom.

• April 21, 2012: Around 8 a.m., family members call 911 after they discover Isabel is not in the house.

• June 3, 2014: Maribel Gonzales leaves home to walk and visit a friend.

• June 4, 2014: Gonzales reporting missing by her family after she fails to come home.
Man indicted in deaths of Isabel Celis and Maribel Gonzales

Both of their remains were discovered near North Trico and West Avra Valley roads in rural Pima.

I hope investigators look into Adrienne Salinas whose remains were found in Apache Junction. Adrienne went missing from Tempe, Arizona on June 15, 2013. Her remains were found in a desert wash basin about 84 miles away from where Isabel and Maribel were found. I noticed that 'Brawley Wash' is in the area where Isabel and Maribel were found. Are washes common in Arizona?

yes, its flat desert and prone to flash floods. the flash floods cut through and create washes as its usually the lowest point.

 

[cvaldez1975]

I don't know what the "form" is under these circumstances but would it be appropriate to bring Maribel's name into the title of this thread also now that they are linked by LE? Just (like everyone else, I'm sure) feeling a huge wave of sadness for her and her family. I have posted a couple of times on her thread but my posts don't bump threads anymore since the new format.
Just feeling Maribel deserves the attention that perhaps her case did not receive at the time. I'm not saying that LE didn't work hard on her case, I don't know that, but there seems to have been hardly any media coverage which is really sad.

agreed. they labeled her a runaway. I feel just as much concern for them as they often fall prey to traffickers and pimps and worse.

 

[cvaldez1975]

*advertiser censored* directly related to Isabel? I hope it is swift too, those poor families.

no the charges of the exploitation were likely not related. its possible but I believe them to be pictures he may have taken, traded or sold.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I don't know what the "form" is under these circumstances but would it be appropriate to bring Maribel's name into the title of this thread also now that they are linked by LE? Just (like everyone else, I'm sure) feeling a huge wave of sadness for her and her family. I have posted a couple of times on her thread but my posts don't bump threads anymore since the new format.
Just feeling Maribel deserves the attention that perhaps her case did not receive at the time. I'm not saying that LE didn't work hard on her case, I don't know that, but there seems to have been hardly any media coverage which is really sad.

I asked the powers that be yesterday to somehow integrate the two as I thought Maribel was getting lost in this discussion.

 

[agilbe]

yes, its flat desert and prone to flash floods. the flash floods cut through and create washes as its usually the lowest point.

When the washes fill during monsoon, it's bad news. We have a, I kid you not, "Stupid Motorists Law". That's for all the people who drive around the barricades or try to drive through the bigger washes when their running. A few people have died trying to go through the wash. But as quickly as they fill then they are dry again.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[cvaldez1975]

WOW -- he did make a deal in exchange for Isa's location! Thanks for bringing that news report forward @imstilla.grandma I think the perp thought he'd be out on the streets again soon as he'd been on the receiving end of lenient sentences and/or probation for the last 20 years!

unbelievable... he gave tips on murder and kidnap to escape charges of burglary.....

 

[cvaldez1975]

When the washes fill during monsoon, it's bad news. We have a, I kid you not, "Stupid Motorists Law". That's for all the people who drive around the barricades or try to drive through the bigger washes when their running. A few people have died trying to go through the wash. But as quickly as they fill then they are dry again.

its crazy to see. I saw one in vegas one year in April.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

From 2012 up until Saturday, most of us were pretty sure we knew what happened to little Isabel Celis.
The dad did it.
Or the dad knew who did it.
Or the parents knew she was abducted because they owed a debt to Mexican drug traffickers. Something sensational like that.

These were the sorts of suspicions we shared in idle conversations around Tucson, in social-media posts, even on national TV. That dad sure looked and acted suspicious. And why did the mom stick by him? Something was wrong with them.

Then came Saturday, and the announcement that a grand jury had indicted Christopher M. Clements, a serial criminal with no known connections to the family, for murder in the deaths of 6-year-old Isabel and of 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez.

Suddenly, it turns out, none of the stories we told each other and ourselves appear true. Worse, we have been casually badmouthing, publicly or among ourselves, parents who suffered the worst nightmare we can imagine: Not just losing a child, but losing her out her bedroom window, allegedly to a convicted sex offender.

Steller column: After indictment, we owe Isabel Celis' parents an apology

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The court appointed John Kaufmann as Clements’ attorney in that case. He said he saw a reason to appeal almost immediately.

“The law was pretty clear,” Kaufmann said. “They have certain steps – A, B, C, D. They missed C. And he was entitled to relief.”

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Clements’ conviction, and the prosecution moved to dismiss the indictment. A federal judge granted the dismissal on March 22, 2012. Isabel Celis was reported missing on April 21, 2012.

Kaufmann does not represent Clements for the murder charges. He said he might represent him in the future if there is a conflict with the public defender’s office.

“I have not seen anything to indicate that there is DNA, fingerprints, anything that links him to either of the murders,” Kaufmann said.

N4T Investigators: Clements released from prison months before Celis disappeared

 

[imstilla.grandma]

​

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Ann Clevenger lived a block away from where Isabel’s family lived at the time of the 6-year-old’s disappearance.

Clevenger said she didn’t blame the family for moving out of the area when many saw Isabel’s father as the suspect in his own daughter's murder.

Clevenger had a message of support for Isabel’s family.

“They were part of our family on East 12th Street. They still are a part of our family on East 12th Street. All of me loves all of you, I hope the family knows that,” Clevenger said.

On Sept. 14, a Pima County grand jury charged 36-year-old Christopher Clements with both murders.

Clevenger said she occasionally saw Isabel’s family visiting grandpa who still lived in the area.

“Now that they do have him, it's even going to be more difficult for the family. Thankfully, I still see grandpa. That's a livelihood I have every day is seeing that man still walking and not hiding,” Clevenger said.

Neighbors still shaken after Tucson murder suspect is charged with girls' murders

 

[RickshawFan]

Tucson to Bisbee is about 90 minutes. I sure hope LE checked or is checking out that area on the NW side of Tucson. CC seems to like that area. I can't help but wonder if there is something or someone that keeps drawing him out there , other than there is a lot of open area. JMO

I mentioned on the last thread that I thought JA Jance's books were set in NM. Actually, I now see they were set in Arizona, around Bisbee.
To repeat, the books featuring Joanna Brady as sheriff/detective, would be soooo helpful for understanding this landscape and what goes on down in SE AZ. While we're waiting for developments.
The murder of these two girls is very much the kind of thing you'd read about in those books. Start with "Desert Heat." (I borrow these books electronically from the library.)

 

[agilbe]

I mentioned on the last thread that I thought JA Jance's books were set in NM. Actually, I now see they were set in Arizona, around Bisbee.
To repeat, the books featuring Joanna Brady as sheriff/detective, would be soooo helpful for understanding this landscape and what goes on down in SE AZ. While we're waiting for developments.
The murder of these two girls is very much the kind of thing you'd read about in those books. Start with "Desert Heat." (I borrow these books electronically from the library.)

I'll have to look for them. I think I may have read one. The sheriff/detective's name sounds familiar. I enjoy reading about my own backyard. (not meant sarcastically) I am a desert rat born and raised as my profile says....the Tucson desert. I quite vividly remember the panic and helplessness we all felt when Isabel went missing. Isabel is how I came to Websleuths.

 

[Seattle1]

no the charges of the exploitation were likely not related. its possible but I believe them to be pictures he may have taken, traded or sold.

Both Isa and Maribel are minors so they would not be identified in any exploitation charges. Hope these charges not related to these girls anyway.

 

[katydid23]

In the burglaries allegedly committed by Clements, prosecutors describe a suspect who worked to research his potential victims and set up them up through elaborate schemes. The perp was very clever by using what worked and did not seem to change his methods!

Clements is accused of targeting a Valley elderly couple, both in their 80s, in one case.

A description of one burglary (against the elderly couple) was described in detail in a June court filing:

"(Victims) received a phone call to their home from a blocked number The female caller told them the FedEx had a package for them and they needed to come pick it up...(The victims) asked to speak to a manager, at which time, a male got on the phone and reassured them they both needed to come to FedEx and pick up the package. When asked where the package was from, the male stated he could not divulge that information but that it had something to do with cancer. (One of the victims) has cancer and her daughter recently passed away from cancer, so she and her husband decided they would go to FedEx and pick up the package...When they arrived back at their home, they realized their home had been burglarized when they were gone."

The victims reported thousands of dollars of jewelry were stolen, records show. Phone records and GPS tracking linked the calls to Clements.

In other burglaries, Clements is accused of using the same phone to set up or attempt to set up victims.

Charges filed in the murder of Isabel Celis and Maribel Gonzales

Wht an evil, evil, vile, sick thing to do. Calling this elderly couple, speaking about cancer, knowing their daughter died from cancer, and the wife had cancer....he is disgusting.

 

[Niner]

When the trial starts - maybe a Mod can combine the two threads? At least that's my suggestion.

Or start a new thread for Trial with both their names on it, and leave the discussion threads open?

 

[imstilla.grandma]