Logan McQueary does not put much stock in claims his son may be a murder victim.
Gabriel Johnson has been missing since late December when authorities said his mother, Elizabeth, brought him to San Antonio. The child has not been seen since.
San Antonio police launched a capital murder investigation in conjunction with the toddler's missing person case. In fact, they will begin sifting through the Tessman Road Landfill for evidence of his murder Thursday morning.
"I'm really not worried about it that much because I don't think Gabriel's there at all, " McQueary said.
The 25-year-old has searched from Arizona to San Antonio for his missing son.
The baby's mother reportedly wanted to put their child up for adoption. He allegedly disagreed.
Police said that evolved into the 23-year-old mother going on the run. She ended up in Miami without her son.
Johnson was arrested on child custody charges for skipping a hearing regarding Gabriel's custody. Investigators said she was not helpful in determining the child's whereabouts.
She alleged her son was given to a couple in a San Antonio park. But police have found no evidence that ever happened.
McQueary said she reportedly sent him an e-mail claiming she murdered their son, put him in a bag and threw him in a Dumpster before she left town.
That's why the authorities are searching an east-side landfill. The trash from the hotel where she stayed in San Antonio comes to the area they plan to sift for several days.
But Gabriel's father believes his son is the yield of an illegal adoption, not murder.
"It's looking like Elizabeth handed him off to somebody," he claimed. "I don't think Elizabeth did what she said. I think she just said that to hurt me."
The distraught father bases his belief on several clues he's dug up on his own. The most recent revelation is a $20,000 ruby and diamond ring. She reportedly had it in her pocket when she was arrested.
"Sometimes when they give the baby away for adoption they hand over jewelry to the mother," he said.
McQueary believes that unlike cash, the trail for pawned jewelry is more difficult to trace. He's still trying to figure out who gave her the ring.
The Arizona father said Elizabeth had low-paying jobs. In addition, McQueary said in the two years they lived together he never saw that ring.
The expensive piece of jewelry was allegedly handed over to Johnson's grandfather, Arizona authorities said. However, McQueary said the grandfather denies any knowledge of the ring.
"I'm gonna keep searching until they prove me wrong," he said. "Gabriel's still out there. He got handed off to somebody, and we're going to find him."
