On March 26, 2010 in Austin, TX, Julie Ann Gonzalez went to the residence of her estranged husband, George de la Cruz, to pick up their two-year-old daughter whom they shared custody of. According to de la Cruz, Gonzalez was acting a little strange and asked if she could leave their daughter with him over the weekend. De la Cruz agreed and stated that Gonzalez said she would be back in a couple of days. That was the last time anyone saw Julie Gonzalez.

On April 27, 2010, Julie Gonzalez's disappearance was featured on Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell which airs on CNN. Velez-Mitchell was interviewing Gonzalez's aunt Dora Cooper. Cooper questioned de la Cruz's story about Gonzalez's disappearance. De la Cruz then phoned into the show to give his version of what happened. Here is the beginning of his statement that he gave to Jane Velez-Mitchell.

"Well, like I said, it was her time to come pick my daughter up, because, uh like I said, we had joint custody and well she arrived I was expecting her to go pick her up come and get her. Right".

De la Cruz's entire statement consisted of about 15 sentences. Nine times he used the phrase "like I said." Some deceptive people will refer back to their previous statements. They may do this for self-support and/or to emphasize their lie. Even though he has already told his story to the police and may have given other interviews, I believe this is the first time he has talked to Jane Velez-Mitchell. Therefore, he should just be telling her what happened and not what he has already stated happened.

He refers to his daughter as "my daughter" and not "our daughter." This shows us he is distancing himself from his wife. This would make sense since they are separated.

In talking about sharing custody of their daughter, he speaks in the past tense; "we had joint custody." This means they no longer have joint custody. Since he apparently still has custody of their daughter, his language would indicate his wife no longer has custody. There are only three reasons why he would use past tense language: 1. He has poor grammar skills. Perhaps English is not his first language. 2. Because no one has heard from Gonzalez in several weeks, he believes she is dead. 3. He knows she is dead. In most cases, when a subject uses past tense language it is because the subject knows the victim is dead.

At the end of the sentence, de la Cruz adds the word "right." He does this one other time in his statement; "...she just said, well, I'm okay, don't worry about it. So I just let it go. Right." The word right is not directed towards Velez-Mitchell. De la Cruz is talking to himself when he uses this word. This may be his way of reinforcing and assuring himself the lie he has just told is the truth.

You can listen to his entire statement on You Tube . While there were other signs of deception in the rest of his statement, the biggest indication he had something to do with his wife's disappearance is the fact he talked about her in the past tense. We will have to watch this story to see how it unfolds.

UPDATE

One year after her disappearance Julie Ann Gonzalez has not been found. The police say her estranged husband George de la Cruz now refuses to cooperate and has a lawyer. Police believe he is withholding information and are calling him a "person of interest."

UPDATE

On September 13, 2013, George De La Cruz was arrested for murder of his estranged wife Julie Ann Gonzalez after he was indicted by a Travis County Grand Jury.

UPDATE

In April 2015, George De La Cruz was convicted of killing Julie Ann Gonzalez and received a life sentence.

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