Tucson

Missing Arizona Girl's Parents Say Police ‘Wasting Time’ Focusing On Them


Posted on May 03, 2012 @ 01:30PM - 4 comments

By Alexis Tereszcuk - Radar Entertainment Editor

Isabel Celis has been missing from her Tucson, Arizona home since April 21 and her parents have become frustrated with law enforcement focusing on them.

Becky and Sergio Celis gave their first sit down interview Thursday morning where they said their 6-year-old daughter deserved to be home.

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Isabel Celis has been missing from her Tucson, Arizona home since April 21 and her parents have become frustrated with law enforcement focusing on them.

Becky and Sergio Celis gave their first sit down interview Thursday morning where they said their 6-year-old daughter deserved to be home.

“To who ever did this, please, look at her. Look at her. She's beautiful. She doesn't deserve this. She deserves to be home. She deserves to be home in her room playing with her brothers and just loving life the way she does. This is -- there's so many things that are just so frustrating and so difficult to deal with,” her father told Ann Curry on the TODAY show.

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Parents Of Missing Tucson Girl Tearfully Beg For Her Return


Posted on Apr 26, 2012 @ 12:00AM - 4 comments

By Radar Staff

The parents of a missing 6-year-old Tucson, Arizona first-grader tearfully pleaded for their "baby girl Isabel" to be brought back safely, during an emotional news conference held at a police command post in the desert city Wednesday.

"Just please, please, the person or persons who have Isabel, tell us your demands," her father Sergio, flanked by his wife Becky, said. "Tell us what you want. We will do anything for her."

Both wore shirts that read, "Bring Isa Home."

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"We are looking for you, Isa," Sergio said. "We love you and we miss you so much. We will never give up."

The couple thanked the community for their help, prayers and support in the disappearance, which has attracted national attention.

"We have tremendous gratitude to the millions of people around the world who have prayed for Isabel," said Becky. "Please continue to pray for her return.

PHOTOS: The Most Intriguing Cold Cases In History

The parents of a missing 6-year-old Tucson, Arizona first-grader tearfully pleaded for their "baby girl Isabel" to be brought back safely, during an emotional news conference held at a police command post in the desert city Wednesday.

"Just please, please, the person or persons who have Isabel, tell us your demands," her father Sergio, flanked by his wife Becky, said. "Tell us what you want. We will do anything for her."

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Family Of Missing Tucson Girl: 'We Will Never Give Up Finding Her'


Posted on Apr 23, 2012 @ 10:00PM - Add a comment

By Radar Staff

As police Tuesday continue their search for a missing 6-year-old Tucson, Arizona girl, her family has vowed they "will never give up finding her."

"We appreciate everyone's interest in finding our daughter, Isabel, and thank all the volunteers who have come out to search for her," first-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis's family said in a statement late Monday, adding they're fully cooperating with police in the investigation.

On Monday, police interviewed local sex offenders, and used FBI dogs to scour the child's home, which turned up a valuable tidbit of info authorities did not identify.

PHOTOS: The Most Intriguing Cold Cases In History

As RadarOnline.com has previously reported, Isabel was last seen Friday night in her bedroom and reported her missing early Saturday. Police say the case is being treated as a suspicious disappearance or possible abduction.

As police Tuesday continue their search for a missing 6-year-old Tucson, Arizona girl, her family has vowed they "will never give up finding her."

"We appreciate everyone's interest in finding our daughter, Isabel, and thank all the volunteers who have come out to search for her," first-grader Isabel Mercedes Celis's family said in a statement late Monday, adding they're fully cooperating with police in the investigation.

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6-Year-Old Girl Disappears In Tucson, Arizona Under Bizarre Circumstances


Posted on Apr 23, 2012 @ 03:30PM - 10 comments

By Radar Staff

Police Monday continue their search for a 6-year-old Tucson, Arizona first-grader named Isabel Mercedes Celis, who was last seen Friday night in her bedroom. 

“She was checked on at about 8 o’clock [a.m. Saturday,]" Tucson Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Hawke said. "And she was not in her room at that point."

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The window in the child's room was open, officials said, but there was no broken glass; the case is being treated as a suspicious lost child or possible abduction.

Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said authorities are unsure if anyone actually forced their way inside, adding there were  “suspicious circumstances around a possible entry point."

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“We have a location where we think that could be a possible location of entry, but there’s also questions that we’re looking into on that,” he said. “The family has been cooperating with us…but we’re not ruling out anything of this investigation.”

Police Monday continue their search for a 6-year-old Tucson, Arizona first-grader named Isabel Mercedes Celis, who was last seen Friday night in her bedroom. 

“She was checked on at about 8 o’clock [a.m. Saturday,]" Tucson Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Hawke said. "And she was not in her room at that point."

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Tucson GOP Raffling Off Handgun, Just Nine Months After Arizona Shootings Left Six Dead


Posted on Sep 02, 2011 @ 06:00PM - 27 comments

By Radar Staff

Just nine months after the horrific shootings in Tucson, Arizona, the local branch of the Republican party are planning to raise money by raffling off a Glock handgun, the exact same model that was used that fateful day.

The shootings on January 8 left six people dead, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl, and Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords battling for her life.

The Arizona Republic
reports that the choice of raffle prize has enraged some locals, who have been slamming the idea as being “insensitive and stupid.”

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VIDEO: Jared Lee Loughner Recorded Bizarre 'Genocide' Rant


Posted on Jan 15, 2011 @ 07:00AM - 2 comments

Jared Lee Lougner walked around his Pima Community College campus last September with a video camera and a personality that was losing all touch with reality," RadarOnline.com has learned.

The accused shooter in last week's Tucson, Arizona rampage narrated his tour of the school, and it is as frightening as it is eerie.

Jared Lee Lougner walked around his Pima Community College campus last September with a video camera and a personality that was losing all touch with reality," RadarOnline.com has learned.

The accused shooter in last week's Tucson, Arizona rampage narrated his tour of the school, and it is as frightening as it is eerie.

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He posted it on YouTube, and once school officials became aware of the video, they immediately suspended Loughner.

You can see it here on RadarOnline.com.

In between taping the exterior of buildings, the door to the campus police office and some passersby, Loughner comments that "I'm in a terrible place."

He accuses Pima Community College of being a "genocide" school and stifling free speech.

PHOTOS:  Jared Lee Loughner Is The Suspected Tucson Gunman

"All the teachers that you have are being paid illegally and have illegal authority over the Constitution of the United States under the 1st Amendment," he says.  "This is genocide in America.  Thank you.  This is Jared from Pima College."

School officials released the video Saturday.

Loughner stands accused of murder, attempted murder, and the attempted assassination of a member of Congress.  His primary target was Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head but is defying the odds with her survival.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords With Her Husband & Family

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Sarah Palin Crosshairs Map Controversy Still Rages


Posted on Jan 10, 2011 @ 06:10AM - 12 comments

Sarah Palin's infamous map, targeting the 20 Congressional candidates she wanted defeated last November, is causing a firestorm of controversy in the wake of the Tucson shooting rampage.

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Sarah Palin's infamous map, targeting the 20 Congressional candidates she wanted defeated last November, is causing a firestorm of controversy in the wake of the Tucson shooting rampage.

As RadarOnline.com has been reporting, Palin posted a map on both her PAC (Political Action Committee) website and her own Facebook page. It detailed the 20 Congressional districts with Democratic Representatives who had voted for healthcare reform. What appeared to many to be crosshairs marked each location; it included a list of the Representatives names.

PHOTOS: Gabby Giffords With Her Husband & Friends

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AUDIO: Dramatic 911 Call In Tucson Shooting Rampage


Posted on Jan 09, 2011 @ 09:52PM - Add a comment

Numerous calls went in to Pima County, Arizona 911 operators from the scene of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, but the first call was also the most dramatic. You can listen to it here on RadarOnline.com.

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Numerous calls went in to Pima County, Arizona 911 operators from the scene of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, but the first call was also the most dramatic.  You can listen to it here on RadarOnline.com.

PHOTOS: Jared Lee Loughner Is The Suspected Shooter

That first caller, Manuel Hernandez, was right in front of the Safeway store and right next to critically injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The 911 operator calmly took her eyewitness through the paces as he described the scene.  You can hear numerous people screaming and shouting all around him as Hernandez says,  "Gabby Giffords was hit.  She is breathing.  She still has a pulse."

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Hernandez described the shooter and what he was wearing -- jeans and a black hoodie.  He tells the operator the shooter "ran north."

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Only when he said there were "multiple people shot," did the operator briefly let her guard down.  "Oh my god," she can be heard saying.

Hernandez was an outside salesman delivering his product to the supermarket, and just happened to get caught up in the shooting.

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He was one of several Good Samaritans amid the chaos.

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NEW DETAILS IN CONGRESSWOMAN SHOOTING: Shooter Posted 'I'll See You On National TV' & Police Find 'Person Of Interest'


Posted on Jan 09, 2011 @ 09:00AM - 1 comment

UPDATE:  The manhunt is over for the "person of interest" in the Tucson shooting.  The Pima County Sheriff's Department has located the man, questioned and released him.  He is a cab driver, who had driven Jared Lee Loughner to the Safeway, and then walked into the store with him because the suspected shooter needed to get change to pay his fare.

UPDATE:  The manhunt is over for the "person of interest" in the Tucson shooting.  The Pima County Sheriff's Department has located the man, questioned and released him.  He is a cab driver, who had driven Jared Lee Loughner to the Safeway, and then walked into the store with him because the suspected shooter needed to get change to pay his fare.

Police are now hunting for a second man, described as a “person of interest” in the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and new details have emerged indicating the alleged shooter may signaled his destructive intent with online postings, RadarOnline.com has learned.

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Twenty people were shot, six of them killed, in Tuscson, Arizona on Saturday in a sudden act of violence that has stirred debate about superheated political rhetoric and caused President Obama to dispatch the head of the FBI to oversee the criminal investigation.

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Jared Lee Loughner is now in the custody of the FBI and identified as the shooter. Authorities are searching for a second man who they say was at the scene and is a person of interest.

The 'person of interest' is a white male, approximately 40 to 50 years old with dark hair. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a dark blue jacket. The photograph was released by the Pima County Sheriff’s office and taken from a surveillance video camera at the shopping center.

Meanwhile more of Loughner’s bizarre online postings have been uncovered in the aftermath of the tragedy. One of the most disturbing read: "WOW! I’m glad i didn’t kill myself. I’ll see you on National T.v.! This is foreshadow .... why doesn’t anyone talk to me?.."

PHOTOS: Jared Lee Loughner's MySpace Pics

That was posted in mid-December, about the same time as his bizarre videos were posted, according to the Arizona Republic. He also posted: “I don’t feel good: I’m ready to kill a police officer! I can say it."

Giffords, 40, was shot in the back of the head. But she emerged from heavy sedation Sunday morning and a medical spokesperson said she was able to follow commands, a very good sign, according to  her doctors.

One hero who emerged from the order is Daniel Hernandez, a 20-year-old intern in Giffords’ office. He rushed to help her and tried to keep her stable until paramedics arrived.

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"I don't know how much time it took, Hernandez said in an ABC-TV interview Sunday. "It seemed like it took an eternity, but that's just because of the way that the events were unfolding, because I was trying to make sure that I was holding the congresswoman so that she could still breathe well, but also make sure that I was holding her wound so that she didn't -- so that she was in good enough condition to be able to be transported by ambulance to a hospital."

The alleged shooter was suspended from Pima Community College, in Tucson on September 29, 2010 after campus police had contact with him five times. Classmates described his behavior as bizarre and the school said he agreed to withdrew from the college on Oct. 4.

Administrators met with Loughner and his parents and said he needed a certificate that "in the opinion of a mental health professional, his presence at the College does not present a danger to himself or others” in order to come back to school.

It is not known if Loughner underwent a mental health evaluation, but he was able to purchase a Glock 19 with an extended clip, capable of holding 30 rounds of 9 mm ammunition. He bought the gun at Sportsman's Warehouse in Tucson on Nov. 30, law enforcement officials said.

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A classmate of his from high school described him as a left wing liberal, via a series of Tweets.

Caitie Parker began Tweeting on Saturday that she knew Loughner, and the Phoenix New Times confirmed she was his high school classmate. Parker Tweeted she hadn’t seen him in three years and wrote, “the guy I knew 3 years ago isn’t the evil he became today.” She also said she was in a band with him.

She also said Loughner claimed to have met Giffords previously and described the Congresswoman as "stupid and unintelligent."

Parker said Loughner  became "reclusive" in 2007 after getting alcohol poisoning and dropping out of college.  You can view her Tweets here.

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A MySpace page believed to be Loughner’s was taken down quickly after he was identified as the gunman. That page had a "Goodbye friends" message published hours before the shooting. It also asked his pals: "Please don't be mad at me."

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Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot


Posted on Jan 08, 2011 @ 08:00AM - 24 comments

A state of shock exists in Tucson, Arizona where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been shot and is now fighting for her life, RadarOnline.com can report.

The Congresswoman and at least 11 others were killed or wounded at the shooting that took place outside a Safeway supermarket, where Giffords was holding a well-publicized meeting with her constituents.

A state of shock exists in Tucson, Arizona where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been shot and is now fighting for her life, RadarOnline.com can report.

PHOTOS: The Scene of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' Shooting

The Congresswoman and at least 11 others were killed or wounded at the shooting that took place outside a Safeway supermarket, where Giffords was holding a well-publicized meeting with her constituents.

She was shot "point blank in the head," reports the Tucscon Citizen.

Eyewitness Dr. Steven Rayle told The New York Times the gunman approached the Congresswoman from behind, took out his gun, held it only a foot from Giffords' head and fired.

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He got off another 20 or so rounds before being wrestled to the ground.

The Congresswoman was rushed to Tucson's University Medical Center.  She had surgery for a gunshot wound to the head and is listed as being in a critical condition, although the hospital said her outlook was "optimistic" and that she was responding to commands from doctors.

The gunman has reportedly been taken into custody.

Officials said a 9-year-old child was among the killed, and a U.S. Marshal said a federal judge was also fatally shot in the attack.

Others wounded included some of Gifford's aides who were with her at the time.

The Congresswoman, a Democrat, is married to astronaut Mark E. Kelly.

2:09 PM PT: Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, said she was "shocked and deeply saddened" at the shootings and added she was "just heartbroken" about the attack on Giffords.

"I am just heartbroken. Gabby is more than just a colleague. She is actually a friend... She was a genuine nice, kind, hard-working servant for the people of District 8. She never really played partisan politics. She was always concerned with what was good for her district. She was -- and is -- a very gracious public servant."

UPDATE 2.09 PT -- President Barack Obama's statement:

"This morning, in an unspeakable tragedy, a number of Americans were shot in Tucson, Arizona, at a constituent meeting with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And while we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded. We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers."

UPDATE 1.34PM PT -- John Roll, the judge who was murdered in Arizona today, received threats before, according to the Huffington Post.

UPDATE: 1.28 PM PT -- Arizona Senator John McCain's statement: “I am horrified by the violent attack on Representative Gabrielle Giffords and many other innocent people by a wicked person who has no sense of justice or compassion. I pray for Gabby and the other victims, and for the repose of the souls of the dead and comfort for their families. I beg our loving Creator to spare the lives of those who are still alive, heal them in body and spirit, and return them to their loved ones. Whoever did this; whatever their reason, they are a disgrace to Arizona, this country and the human race, and they deserve and will receive the contempt of all decent people and the strongest punishment of the law.”

UPDATE 1.03 PM PT -- A surgeon is "very optimistic" about Rep. Giffords. He adds that she was shot in the head "through and through." "We cannot tell what kind of recovery but I'm about as optimistic as it can get in this situation."

UPDATE 12.47 PM PT -- It's been reported the judge who was killed at today's shooting was John Roll.

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