Overview

Date reported missing: August 15, 2008
Last confirmed public sighting: August 16, 2008
Location: Lynn Behavioral Clinic on Union Street in Lynn, Massachusetts
Main circumstances:
Giovanni’s mother said she dropped him off near his father’s Brightwood Terrace apartment at approximately 4:00 p.m. on August 15.
Witnesses later reported seeing Giovanni with his father at the Lynn Behavioral Clinic between approximately 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on August 16.
Giovanni’s father denied having him during the scheduled weekend visit.
Giovanni was not at the apartment when police entered it on August 17.
His father later gave a detailed account claiming he had killed Giovanni, but investigators questioned the account because they could not fully corroborate it.
Giovanni’s remains have never been found, and he remains officially listed as missing.

Detailed Case Breakdown

The Disappearance of Giovanni Gonzalez-Colon:
What Happened to the Five-Year-Old From Lynn?

Giovanni Ernesto Gonzalez-Colon was five years old when he disappeared during a weekend visit with his father in Lynn, Massachusetts, in August 2008. More than 17 years later, Giovanni has never been located, and the conflicting accounts surrounding his final known hours continue to leave investigators and his family without definitive answers.

Giovanni, who was also identified in some records as Giovanni Colon-Gonzalez or Giovanni Ernesto Gonzalez, lived primarily with his mother, Daisy Colon, and his younger sister in East Boston. He was preparing to begin kindergarten when his mother arranged for him to spend the weekend with his father, Ernesto L. Gonzalez Jr.

Giovanni Gonzalez-Colon Last Seen Summary

Date reported missing: August 15, 2008
Last confirmed public sighting: August 16, 2008
Location: Lynn Behavioral Clinic on Union Street in Lynn, Massachusetts

Main circumstances:

1. Giovanni’s mother said she dropped him off near his father’s Brightwood Terrace apartment at approximately 4:00 p.m. on August 15.
2. Witnesses later reported seeing Giovanni with his father at the Lynn Behavioral Clinic between approximately 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on August 16.
3. Giovanni’s father denied having him during the scheduled weekend visit.
4. Giovanni was not at the apartment when police entered it on August 17.
5. His father later gave a detailed account claiming he had killed Giovanni, but investigators questioned the account because they could not fully corroborate it.
6. Giovanni’s remains have never been found, and he remains officially listed as missing.

A Weekend Visit Followed by Silence

Daisy Colon reported that she dropped Giovanni off near Ernesto Gonzalez’s residence on Brightwood Terrace at approximately 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 15, 2008. Giovanni was reportedly carrying a Transformers backpack containing clothing and toys for the weekend.

Colon said she could not reach either Giovanni or his father by telephone during the weekend. When she returned on Sunday to collect her son, no one answered the apartment door. Police and emergency personnel eventually entered the residence and found Ernesto inside, but Giovanni was not there.

Some of Giovanni’s toys were reportedly still in the apartment, while his backpack and clothing were missing. Ernesto reportedly told investigators that he had not seen Giovanni since August 10 and claimed he was unaware of a scheduled visit.

That statement conflicted with witness accounts. People at the Lynn Behavioral Clinic on Union Street reported seeing Giovanni accompany his father to an appointment between approximately 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on August 16. This is described in secondary case records as Giovanni’s last confirmed sighting. Neighbors also reported hearing what sounded like a child’s voice from Ernesto’s apartment later that day.

Search of the Lynn Apartment

Ernesto Gonzalez was arrested on August 18, 2008, and initially charged with child endangerment. Authorities said he was uncooperative and would not explain a cut on one of his fingers.

Investigators searched the Brightwood Terrace apartment and collected knives, cleaning products, a mop and numerous biological samples. Public reports concerning the laboratory findings have not always been consistent. Some reports stated that blood found on certain cleaning items did not belong to Giovanni, while later court reporting said traces identified as Giovanni’s blood were found on a knife, flooring, the bathroom threshold and the cap of a cleaning-product bottle.

Despite extensive searches, investigators did not recover Giovanni or locate remains that could confirm a homicide.

The Father’s Contested Confession

In November 2008, Ernesto gave a jailhouse interview in which he claimed that he had stabbed Giovanni, dismembered his body in the apartment’s bathroom and placed the remains in trash containers around Lynn.

The statement was disturbing and detailed, but authorities did not bring a murder charge. Investigators reportedly questioned whether the account was reliable because searches and forensic work did not produce enough evidence to substantiate the complete story. Giovanni’s body was never recovered.

Daisy Colon publicly rejected the conclusion that her son was dead. She expressed the belief that Giovanni may have been hidden with someone connected to his father. Because both sides of Giovanni’s family had ties to Puerto Rico, investigators also examined whether he had been taken to the island. Public case summaries state that relatives were contacted, but no evidence was found that Giovanni was living there.

Criminal Charges and Court Proceedings

The original child-endangerment charge was replaced with charges that included parental kidnapping and misleading investigators.

A judge dismissed the parental-kidnapping charge in June 2011, ruling that prosecutors could not establish that Ernesto lacked lawful authority over Giovanni because no custody order had formally denied him parental rights. The charge was reportedly restored during later proceedings, but the case continued to be delayed by competency questions.

Ernesto was found incompetent to stand trial after medical evaluations determined that he had a serious mental illness and could not adequately assist in his defense. On December 5, 2013, a judge dismissed the remaining charges connected to Giovanni’s disappearance under a Massachusetts law concerning defendants who remain incompetent after being confined for a significant portion of the maximum possible sentence. At that time, Ernesto remained subject to other criminal proceedings and civil commitment at Bridgewater State Hospital.

The dismissal did not determine what happened to Giovanni, nor did it close his missing-person case.

Current Status of the Investigation

The most current official public records reviewed in July 2026 continue to list Giovanni Gonzalez-Colon as missing. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children lists him as 23 years old and displays an image showing how he may have appeared at age 18. His NamUs record remains listed under case number MP6127.

No publicly announced recovery, identification, arrest or new criminal charge resolving Giovanni’s disappearance was located in the current official records reviewed. The active listings indicate that law enforcement and missing-child organizations are still requesting information from the public.

Giovanni was five years old at the time of his disappearance. He was approximately 4 feet 1 inch tall and weighed about 40 pounds. He had brown or black hair, brown eyes, a small scar above his right eyebrow, a birthmark on the inside of his left ankle and an area of faded pigmentation on the lower-right side of his chest. He was last reported wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, black Spider-Man sandals and a silver chain necklace.

Anyone with information about Giovanni’s whereabouts, the Brightwood Terrace apartment, the weekend of August 15–17, 2008, or anyone who may have helped transport or conceal him should contact the Lynn Police Department or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Tips should be submitted directly to authorities rather than posted publicly.

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Facebook Post:
On July 1, 1998, the body of 20-year-old Benjamin Gonzalez-Reyes was discovered near a hiking trail in the town of Pomfret, New York. Investigators determined that he had been shot to death in what was described as an execution-style killing. Despite the passage of time, the case remains open and authorities continue searching for answers and justice for Benjamin.

Anyone with information related to this case is encouraged to contact the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office at 716-753-4231.