Authorities in Connecticut are asking the public for help in the search for missing 1-year-old Vanessa Morales, who had vanished from her home in Ansonia when police discovered her mother’s dead body there over a week ago.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, authorities have determined that 43-year-old Christine Holloway was murdered, and died of blunt force trauma. Police have not named a suspect or person of interest in the murder or the missing persons investigation, but said last week they believe Vanessa may be in the company of a safe person and have urged that that individual to bring the little girl home.
Authorities issued an AMBER Alert for Vanessa last Wednesday, and have reportedly followed up on tips by searching clothing donation bins and a wooded areas in Ansonia and neighboring Derby and Hamden. All three towns are outside of New Haven.
Police have not revealed what, if any, evidence was discovered during the searches.
Fox 61 reports that police are asking anyone who lives or has a business along Derby Avenue or New Haven Avenue to contact police with any surveillance footage they may have captured. Residents in Ansonia are shining red lights from their front porches in a show of support for Vanessa. Although police have encouraged anyone who is with Vanessa to bring her to a police station, fire station, or hospital, and not a residence; family members have indicated they are willing to circumvent the involvement of law enforcement.
“You don’t have to go to the police. You don’t have to go anywhere. You just drop her at a hospital, anything, or hit us up on Facebook,” a relative named Ed Smith reportedly said in a Facebook post.
“One of us will come out and get the child.”
Funeral services for Christine Holloway are set for Wednesday in Bridgeport. Little is known about the possible circumstances of her death, but Holloway is being remembered a doting mother with a good heart, who worked as an educator at a Bridgeport daycare.
“She had the patience of a saint and would do anything for anyone,” her obituary reads, according to the Hartford Courant.
“She was a loving and caring mother to her precious daughter Vanessa. They were inseparable.”
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Feature image: Vanessa Morales and her mother Christine Holloway]
