Cops Find Mom Murdered and Her Baby Girl Missing

It's the Monday after Thanksgiving, and there's a mystery developing over on Myrtle Avenue. This morning, 43-year-old single-mother and daycare worker Christine Holloway failed to show up for work. Unable to reach her, Christine's worried boss contacted police and requested a welfare check. In the officer arrives, there's no sign of Christine or her 14-month-old daughter, Vanessa. But he finds no cause for alarm, so he leaves. By now, word has spread through Christine's family that something is a miss. My husband called me because he was at work, and he said, "My mom called. She's job left her voice mail, something about she didn't job to work," and I said, "All right. I'll go to her house and go check." And we lived five minutes away from her. And when I walked up, I saw footprints in the snow because they had just snowed. And I was like, "Well, somebody was here, and I took pictures, and I remember taking pictures of the footprints in the snow." And I was knocking on the door, banging on the door, screaming for her name, maybe trying to hear a baby cry, nothing. Jody calls her husband, Stephen, if Christine's not home and she's not at work, then maybe she's with her boyfriend, Vanessa's dad, 43-year-old, Jose Morales. And I found his address through his mother's name. So we ended up going to New Haven. I knocked on his parent's door. He told me that, and then Christine left the house, she put the baby in the car and went to work, and he went to work. I said, "Have you tried quality?" "No, I haven't heard from her all day." And I said, "Well, if you hear from them or see them, give me a call." I said, "Mount of fact, call me from your phone so I have your phone number." And he called me and I said, "All right. I went back to my husband's car, and at that point that's when I started calling all the area hospitals, given the description of Christine Vanessa." There is no record of Christine or Vanessa being admitted anywhere. We went back to her apartment. As we were driving, I wrote a letter, a note saying, "Christine, when you read this, call mom, Stephen or me as soon as possible to emergency." Jody leaves the note on Christine's front door. Then she and Stephen head to the police station to request help, and they tell officers about their visit to Jose's house. And he looked at me and he said, "When did he say to you when you went to the house?" He said, "Himmy, Chrissy left this morning. Chrissy got in the car with the baby, he went to work and I said, "He went to work." I said, "But we all know he doesn't work." Officers reach out to Jose. Did you talk to them at all today? To whom? You're, uh, Christine or you're done. I think the first thing in the morning, because you guys both left their house together in this part of the house together. When's the last thing you saw in it? To police, it's an immediate red flag. Why would Jose tell Christine's family he saw her and Vanessa this morning? But give them a different story. That's not the only red flag. After a little digging, police realized that Jose is a convicted felon, and his rap sheet includes narcotic sales and domestic violence charges. But right now, their top priority is to find Christine and Vanessa. Around 1am, police return to Christine's apartment. "I'm going to give you a quick breakdown, okay? I have, uh, earlier than today, we had a, uh, missing person technically just to try to make contact with at number six and a half, murder lap. They're back here to, like, listen, she's a mother of a one-year-old, she's always shows up work, she always contacts us. We don't see, we haven't heard from her, this is really, really bad. We have a bad feeling. Talk to a boyfriend, boyfriend says I haven't seen her, I haven't talked to her the morning, but I haven't seen her." Christine's door remains locked, and there's still no answer. However, this time, police do see something suspicious. "There's a couple windows open on the second floor, which is really odd, because obviously it's freezing out. I mean, we can try knocking one more time, and then just put it in there. [BEEPING] [BEEPING] 4-3. [BEEPING] Good. We're off this. [BEEPING] We're going to have time to make entry. [BEEPING] Roger, did you guys know that there's one or two plates on the focus? Police department? Hunter, I'll be in a minute. Roger. Hey, there's no key. No, there's no key. We got to kick it out. Kick it out English. Watch out. [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] You can get traction here at the foot. [BEEPING] [BEEPING] Police department? Police department. [BEEPING] Police department? [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] In the bathtub, police find Christine Holloway. It appears she's been beaten to death. Find the baby. Back out, back out. No, clear the room. Clear the house. [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] Roger. [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] OK. Now, they clear. Oh. I need a bed, search. Please, under the bed. [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] [BEEPING] No, kid. [BEEPING] [BEEPING] No, kid. On the floor, next to Vanessa's crib, officers find what appear to be blood stains. With a dead mother and a missing child on their hands, police must act fast. Go to a neighborhood canvas, please. [BEEPING] Yup, neighborhood canvas, names, times, cameras, anything we could get. As officers swarm the crime scene and the search for Vanessa begins, detectives deliver the gut-wrenching news to Christine's family. I remember my husband saying, she's gone. I said, stop saying that. Now I'm getting angry. I'm going to stop saying that. We don't know what's going on, and I'm like arguing with him. And he turned to me, grabbed my hands, looked me and my dead in my eyes and said, she's gone. And I remember screaming, no, no, no. And I remember hearing my brother-in-law just sobbing. And I ran out, ran to the bathroom and threw up. And as I collected myself, I was like, wait a minute. They said, Chrissy, but where's Vanessa? You were telling me that my sister-in-law's dead was her daughter. She said, she's one years old. She can't just get up and leave. And that's when they told us that they're going to look into it. And we gave all our phone numbers and contact information. And we had to leave there and go to my mother-in-law's house in Bridgeport to tell her that her oldest daughter's gone. That's the worst night of my life. How do you tell a peer or daughter's dead? Did her granddaughter's missing? No one should have to do that. When detectives ask Christine's family about her relationship with Jose, they get an earful. Granted, none of us liked him. But we all tolerated for her. Yeah, we tolerated him for her because we saw that she was happy. She saw something good in him. I don't know what it was, but she did. In 2016, Christine met Jose on a dating website. And their relationship provided her with something she'd always dreamed of, a child of her own. As far as Christine, if Chrissy being a mother, she was amazing. Vanessa was attached to her hip. They did everything together. You never saw Chrissy without Vanessa. She called her her little butterfly. What's going on, Tony? What? Detectives bring Jose in for questioning, but they decide not to tell him that Christine has been a mother. been found dead. - Even though the door is kind of closed, I mean, you're free to leave. We brought you here to talk to you. I don't understand you. - I'm free to leave. You know what I'm gonna walk all the way home? No, give me a ride. I'm just saying you're not-- - What help captain here? I'm not like-- - So why would I get him here for it? To talk to you? How about why? We're trying to find Christy near your kid. All right, that's exactly what I've been trying to-- I've been trying to call her and tell her. Okay. All right. All right. So that-- - We had the same page. - Okay, good. - I'd rather have it that way. When's the last time you talked to her? I talked to her, I think, was Monday morning. When she was going to work. - So that was yesterday morning, wasn't it? About what time? - I didn't even worry. - Okay. So that was talking on the phone or in person, pasted it on the phone. Did she say anything? Was there a problem? Was there any kind of issue? Although, no, are you-- Did you hear anything in the background? She didn't sound like she was having any problems. Did she sound different than your normal conversations? Well, it was super fast. It was like, she couldn't be on the phone. That kind of got me like, I see no one to stand on the phone. Like, I called her. She didn't want to stand on the phone, I don't know. - Did you stay over this weekend? - No. - You didn't stay over this weekend? Do you normally stay over the weekend? - Sometimes, I do, yeah. Not normally, but sometimes I stay over it. - All right. So when's the last thing you saw in person? Friday. - Where was that? - At my house. - I hear that when you picked me up, yeah. - She was there? - Yeah. - Okay, with Vanessa? - Yeah. - Okay, and so you left. So there's Friday, you were with her. - Yes. - And Vanessa. - She came over to our house. - She came to visit you, so she drove? - Yeah. - No, wait, wait. Then it's given Eve. - That's Thursday. - Thursday? - Yeah. - That's given Eve. She came over and she slept over my house. Her, Vanessa, she slept over, okay. - Yeah. - So Thursday, she sat over to her. - She sat over to her. - She sat with you guys Thanksgiving? - Yeah. - And then when does she leave? - Friday. - And you're assuming she went home? - This afternoon. - I assume. - Yeah. - Or did it went up if she don't? - Okay, I'm sure I got this right. - She left your house or your parents house. - Friday? - Yeah. - With Vanessa. - Yeah. - And you didn't go with her? - No. - So where did you stay over the weekend? - I stayed with our friend Hector. - Hector? - He was in the same room. - As the interview continues, Jose's detached demeanor strikes detectives as odd. He even downplays his relationship with Christine. We're not that close. It's like, we have a baby? - Yeah. - Well, it's not like she might girlfriend, girlfriend. We say that, we use that we're very lightly, but we have a baby together that happens. I guess I'm assuming a little bit of responsibility by helping her out a little bit. - Do you have any idea where she could be? - Zero. - Zero. - No idea where a one-year-old would be. - Vanessa? - Yeah. - No. - Christine is an adult. - So I mean, we're concerned about anything that is over the next month. - My favorite. - Okay. - What Jose doesn't know is that detectives have already spoken with his parents. - Jose, did you tell your parents where you went on Friday? - Yeah. - Where did you tell your wife? - Yeah. - Listen. - Yeah. - Listen. - Yeah. - Listen, what? - Your dad said you went to Christine's Friday with her. - Why would he tell me that? - He said that I went to, but it's this Friday that's why he thought I was. - You just told me you said you told him where you went. - I told my father where I went. - Yeah. - He told me, and that's why I said, why did he tell me you went to Christine's if you didn't? - I told my father that I went to Christine. - That's what you just told me about 30 seconds ago. - Oh, I'm not sure. - So how are you gonna help us find Vanessa? - That's what you're here for to help us find Vanessa. We wanna find a one year old. And when you try to find her, I tell her, the whole right here, you didn't talk about a one year old daughter that's missing. I don't get that. - That's what I do there. - Yeah, that's, we wanna find her. And the only reason you're here is to find her is to help us find her. - All right, so that's fine. - So where is she? - I don't know. - So you have no idea. - I feel like you don't wanna give us any information. Your father's giving us more information that you're willing. - She would be here. - You would know, you would know everything will be sort of information that your father would know. - She's with Christian, that's what I know. - Jose decides he's done with the interview. - I'm leaving. Am I having to look at you and write me on? - Yeah, we're going to give you a write-on. - Before they leave the station, detectives order Jose to hand over his cell phone and his clothes. - Take your sweatshirt off. - Don't reach it to your pockets, please. - I'm gonna put my phone in here. (waves crashing) - You guys serious, so I'll take you my clothes? (waves crashing) - This is your instinct, you know. - When they arrive at Jose's house, detectives gather Jose and his parents in the living room. We know where Christine is. - Do you know what Christine is? - Yes. - Oh, you met Mama? - Yes. - Well, you want to go to the Navy? - Christine's dead. (waves crashing) (laughs) What happened to her? (waves crashing) - What happened to her? - What happened? - Where are you from, where are you from? - She's at her apartment. - Yeah, where are you from? - Oh my God, oh my God. (laughs) - What's in her house on date? - I don't know. - What do you mean you don't know? - What do you want from there? - I want to talk, I want to talk. - I'm here. - What? - How does he got nowhere he wants to get today? - I want to talk to his name in 24 hours later. How does he got to know that? - I say I want to talk to my boy, I want to talk to him. - So he's gonna say you were-- - I want to talk to his head, I want to talk to him. - I want to talk to him. - I was with him. - The weekend, the weekend, the Monday. - But you just said you were with Hector, I want to talk to him. You said I don't want to talk to him, I want to talk to him. - I want to talk to him, I want to talk to him. - I want to talk to him, I want to talk to him, I want to talk to him. - Why do I want to talk to him? - Yeah, I want to talk to him, I want to talk to him. - You don't have to answer. - Between his lies and his lack of concern for his missing daughter, Jose becomes the prime suspect. As suspicion around him intensifies, so does the search for baby Vanessa. Flyers are posted, a nationwide amber alert is issued, and investigators turn to the media and the public for help. - Good evening, everyone. Today, the identity of the female victim found inside six and a half-mortal avenue on Monday, December 2, 2019 was positively identified as Christine Marie Holloway, age 43, the mother of Vanessa Morales, are missing one-year-old baby. Vanessa Morales is still missing, and we, along with the FBI, Derby Police, Connecticut State Police, are still following leads to locate Vanessa to return her home safely. It is imperative that we find Vanessa. She's a one-year-old child who's wholly dependent on others for their care and well-being, and we know locating Vanessa would bring a sense of relief to her family. On behalf of their family, Christine's aunt Anna Rodanski makes an emotional plea to the public for help. - We the family would like to ask for everyone in our communities and beyond us to help bring the baby Vanessa home safely. Anyone with any information on her whereabouts, we beg of you to please contact. And so when you please department or call the FBI tip line, 203-503-5555, we desperately need anyone that might be with baby Vanessa to keep her safe, unharmed, and get her back to us quickly. - There was a beautiful, the prayer service that they did at the town greener, wherever that was, that in and so on. And the community there, you know, they had this vigil for Prissy of Vanessa, and there was so many people there, it was so cold out. I remember just being cold and there were still so many people there, and you know, that sense of community that you're not alone and that you have a lot of prayers going on. That was very, very thoughtful, very appreciative, and I'll never forget that. Two days after her body was found, Christine's autopsy reveals the savagery of her death. The medical examiner rules she died from blunt force injuries. She was beaten so violently, her skull was fractured. During the autopsy, another clue emerges. The medical examiner finds several loose hair strands in her hand. Could they belong to her killer? While police wait for forensic analysis results, their case against Jose mounts. His friend Hector tells detectives Jose was over at his house this past weekend, but he was in and out so much, Hector can't vouch for his whereabouts. And several of Christine's neighbors insist they saw Jose outside of her apartment on Monday, placing him at the crime scene before police arrived. That leaves detectives with a chilling question. If Jose is capable of murdering Christine, is he capable of murdering his own daughter too? The next day, the search for Vanessa takes a major turn when a local charity contacts police. In their clothing donation bins, they found baby items covered in blood, including a tiny pink crock. In addition to the baby items, they also discovered a bank statement addressed to Christine. Police immediately sees the bins. And when they compare the crock with a single crock located inside Christine's apartment, the results are sobering. They're a match. Unfortunately, there are no surveillance cameras around the donation bins, but police are able to source footage from other cameras in the vicinity. On Sunday, December 1st, around 6am, one of those cameras captured a silver Nissan sedan driving down Mertel Avenue, the street where Christine lived, towards the location of the donation bins. At one point, the driver pulled into a gas station and got out. That driver is none other than Jose Morales. Inside the gas station, Jose purchased a pack of cigarettes. Then he got back into his car and took off again in the direction of the donation bins. This video evidence gives police probable cause to obtain a search warrant for Jose Morales' car and house. During their search of his house, police find stun guns in his possession. As a convicted felon, Jose isn't allowed to have these weapons. Which gives police cause to arrest him. And keep him locked up while they continue to build their case against him. Meanwhile, Christine's family gathers together to say their goodbyes. So, the day of her funeral, when it started snowing, I giggled because I'm like, "Of course." She did this to make us laugh because she was like, "It's snowing. I'm not going anywhere. No, no, no. I'm not driving in this. What if we get stuck?" But it was the most beautiful snowfall. It was like, "This is what Chrissy actually loved, this type of perfect snowfall." And I said, "They find it very odd that it happened on the day of her funeral." Like, it was like she brought us that moment of laughter, sadness, and peace all in one shot. And it was just, you knew she was there with us, you knew it. And she was smiling down on us that day because we all came together as a family. And she knew that as a family, we would just all stick together and we all would fight, no matter what came our way and we would get through it. Over the next several weeks, more key evidence emerges and detectives case against Jose Morales goes from incriminating to airtight. Cell phone records place him in the direct vicinity of Christine's apartment from November 30th through December 2nd. And when police go back and review the body cam footage from their initial welfare check on the afternoon of December 2nd, Jose's silver Nissan can be seen parked on the street outside her apartment, leading police to theorize he was still inside trying to clean up the crime scene. But it's blood and DNA evidence that seals Jose's fate. Forensic testing confirms the presence of Christine's blood on Jose's clothing and inside his car. The hair strands found in Christine's hand are confirmed to be his two. In February of 2020, Jose Morales is charged with murder and tampering with evidence. He had the radio on and I heard them officially charge him and I remember just screaming in my car and I just remember it wasn't a weight lifted off my shoulders but it was more like all right Chris, we got him. Now we're going to fight more for you and do what we have to do to get justice for you. But Jose refuses to own up to what he did to Christine or tell the truth about what happened to Vanessa. He turns down multiple plea deals and the case drags on for years. It was like torture on top of torture on top of torture and then to know that you're going to go to trial which is just more torture. In April of 2025, Jose's trial begins and the star witness for the defense is none other than Jose himself under oath, Jose admits he was at Christine's house when she was murdered. You were smoking PCP? Yes. Okay. And what effect did the PCP have on you? Well, he made me lose my focus, lose my focus, I got blurry, disoriented, I lost my balance, I couldn't see clear. But he swears he wasn't the one who killed her. Jose says while he was in the bathroom, two unidentified intruders broke in and attacked Christine. And I can hear that there's a struggle going on in the bed area. There's a fight. I hear screams. At the same time, I hear that somebody leaves the apartment. I see that somehow Christine got away from whoever it is that she was fighting with and tried to run out of the apartment to go after the guy that left the apartment with Vanessa. The guy that she was struggling with was chasing her. Christine running towards the outside of the apartment. She either tripped or collapsed by the half of her bodies on the tile, the other half of her bodies on the carpet. The guy that's running behind her stops and hits her with a crowbar. So he hits her first one time. He gets up, he's paced, he's angry and he's cussing out. He hits her two more times. As he's hitting her, I'm still on the floor. I see that when he's pulling, he got a crowbar in his hand. I see the crowbar when he's pulling back, stuff is just pouring out of Christine's head and splashing all over the place. I tried to do something, but I can't because I'm stuck, I'm PCP, I'm stuck, so that I couldn't move. I was in the verge of passing out. Pointing at Christine with the crowbar, he's looking at me. He said to me that if I call police, the same thing will happen to your daughter. The intruders fled with Vanessa, terrified Jose says he didn't know what to do. I started playing some other stuff that was on the floor inside of garbage bin. What stuff was on the floor? You have to tell them what the stuff that have blood in it, everything that was the whole mess. On his second day of testimony, Jose admits he disposed of the evidence in the donation bins. Then he went back to Christine's apartment. I was feeling extremely sad and the way that Christine was looking in the hallway, so I didn't want nobody to see her like that. I went into the hallway, I gently grabbed Christine and I placed it in the tub. He also admits he was still in Christine's apartment when the police officer performed the first welfare check. I heard somebody knocking on the door. Did you answer the door? No, I freaked out. What'd you do? I just waited. I didn't even look to see who he was. So I waited a few minutes. The knock and stop. So I freaked out and I said to myself it's time to leave. So I grabbed my, my, my, my, I went outside, I turned the car on, which car, sir? I went outside and I turned the new sun on. Okay. I went back inside the apartment. I grabbed my backpack and then I got back in the car and then I left. Then I left. When the prosecution challenges his story Jose gets visibly annoyed. Why didn't you call the police? Because I was afraid I started my happen to my daughter. Why didn't you attempt to do CPR on Christine Holloway? Do you see the picture? Can you do CPR on that? On April 22nd, 2025, nine days after the trial began, the jury reaches a verdict. Will all members of the jury please rise with the poor person and listen to your verdict as it is accepted and reported? As to the first count of the amended information charging the defendant, Jose Morales with the crime of murder and violation of section 53A, dash 54A of the Connecticut General Statues, you say the defendant is guilty of murder. Do you also say that the defendant is guilty of tampering with evidence? In July of 2025, Jose Morales' sentence to 65 years in prison. While his conviction brings Christine's family some solace, it doesn't bring them the closure they desperately need. Until then, the search continues and hope remains. An anonymous tip line that I have on my profile, but calling your local authorities just being like, "Hey, there's this kid that I've seen that looks slightly like this missing child from Connecticut." From Connecticut, and it's pretty much the whole, "I've urged people to do it even though they're like, but what if it's not her?" And I'm like, "But what if it is?" Even if the person that, let's say, possibly does have her as watching, just a little girl, she doesn't belong to you, she belongs to us. [Music]