Vanessa Morales was one year old when family members last saw her in Ansonia, Connecticut, on November 29, 2019. A welfare check at the apartment of her mother, 43-year-old Christine Holloway, on December 2, 2019, found Holloway dead in a bathtub from blunt force trauma and no sign of Vanessa. An Amber Alert was issued and a search began.

Investigators identified Vanessa’s father and Holloway’s boyfriend, Jose Morales, as the last person known to have seen both mother and child. Surveillance later placed his car near a clothing donation bin where bloodstained items, including a children’s book and a puzzle, were recovered; DNA showed the blood was Holloway’s. Morales was arrested on unrelated weapons charges the day after Holloway’s body was found. He has been convicted of Holloway’s murder and evidence tampering, but has not been charged in Vanessa’s disappearance and remains a suspect.

Law enforcement continues to investigate Vanessa’s whereabouts and has released age-progressed images; her family and community still seek answers. If anyone has information about Vanessa or her movements in late November and early December 2019, please come forward.