Joshua Davis Jr. still missing after 5 years

NBPD: Evidence indicates little boy is deceased

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – The day before the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of 18-month old Joshua Davis Jr., New Braunfels police said evidence indicates the little boy is deceased.

The boy vanished from his family's mobile home on Feb. 4, 2011, one of the coldest nights that winter.

David Ferguson, NBPD spokesman, said he couldn't discuss the evidence since the case is far from closed.

But Joshua's mother, Sabrina Benitez, said she believes her son is still alive.

"I have no doubt in my heart. I've never had a feeling, mother's intuition, that my son is gone," Benitez said.

She said someone has Joshua.

"I worry if he's being loved, if he's being taken care of," Benitez said.

However, at a news conference, New Braunfels police said Benitez, Joshua's father and others who were there the night the boy vanished, hold the answers to his fate.

"Everybody's been cooperative," Ferguson said. "But we don't believe that the information they're giving us is fully truthful."

But Benitez said, "I've told them everything that I know. I've been nothing but truthful with them."

She said so has her husband.

Ferguson said there were drugs in the house that night, but time was spent disposing them before the family notified police that Joshua was missing.

Benitez said that isn't true.

She admitted there was marijuana in the house prior to his disappearance, but the delay only took 10 minutes as they looked for him outside.

"We didn't want to call police if he was there," Benitez said.

The FBI and Texas Rangers also were brought into the case.

But still no sign of the boy.

"This case in particular, probably under our skin a little bit," Ferguson said.

He said police are using the fifth anniversary of Joshua's disappearance to pressure the family.

"We're asking them to search deep into their hearts and come forward with the information that could help solve this case," Ferguson said.

"I want people to stop pointing the finger at me," Benitez said. "Just like the cops don't know, nobody else knows what happened."

Below is a timeline of Joshua's disappearance.


About the Author:

Jessie Degollado has been with KSAT since 1984. She is a general assignments reporter who covers a wide variety of stories. Raised in Laredo and as an anchor/reporter at KRGV in the Rio Grande Valley, Jessie is especially familiar with border and immigration issues. In 2007, Jessie also was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame.