Austin police are intensifying efforts to locate 9-year-old Ava Marie Gonzales, who hasn’t been seen since 2017, following the recent discovery of her younger sister in severely abusive conditions.
Ava was last seen by relatives in December 2017, when she was just 2 years old and living with her mother, Virginia Gonzales. Her disappearance resurfaced after authorities rescued a malnourished 7-year-old girl—Ava’s sibling—who was found locked in a barricaded closet in early April.
According to Austin police, officers responded to a home in Del Valle on April 3 after receiving a 911 call about the child. She was found soiled, emaciated, and confined to a small closet space measuring roughly 4 feet, 9 inches by 1 foot, 10 inches, blocked by heavy boxes. The child told investigators she had been surviving on a single corn dog or hot dog each morning and just half a cup of water daily…