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Amber Alert issued for missing 16-month-old girl in Smyrna

4/24/06

A 16-month-old girl disappeared overnight from her home in Smyrna, setting off a middle Tennessee regional Amber Alert.

The girl’s mother made the discovery this morning at 4 a.m. when she found the front door unlocked and her daughter, Analyce Guerra, missing, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials said.

The girl was last seen at the home at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, the TBI reported.

She is 3 feet tall, 35 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing an denim overall-style dress with sunflowers and beads on the side. Her hair is shoulder length and was in a ponytail.

She has a cherry birthmark over her left eye on her forehead.

The TBI has said that anyone who has seen Analyce should contact Smyrna Police at 615-459-6644 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

[Admin]

FBI takes closer look at missing girl's case
Experts scrutinize videotaped interviews for discrepancies

By Katie Howard and Sheila Burke
The Tennessean
5/2/06

FBI specialists skilled in evaluating body language were looking Monday for "discrepancies" in videotapes of everyone interviewed since last week's disappearance of 2-year-old Analyce Guerra.

The agency's Behavioral Science Unit is reviewing hundreds of taped interviews conducted by the Smyrna police, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI, as well as media interviews that friends and family have given since the girl was reported missing on April 24. The girl's family has appeared on local and national news shows to talk about the case.


"There are some discrepancies in some of the interviews," Smyrna police Sgt. Ken Hampton said. "We have to go back and reinterview some people."

There have been no leads on Analyce's whereabouts, Hampton said.

The FBI's behavior unit fo-cuses on solving crimes by studying behavior and motivation of possible suspects. The agents are specially trained in reading the demeanor of suspects and will be looking at the tapes in search of new leads to pursue, Hampton said.

An expert on missing children said the police statements ap-peared to cast a pall over the family. But the latest developments can be looked at in one of two ways, he said.

"Most of us, when we hear the word 'discrepancy,' we're trained to think negatively," said Harold Copus, a former FBI agent who has been used by TV talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw in missing-person cases, including the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. He said police may be poring over videotapes to make sure they haven't missed the smallest clue.

But the announcement could also signal that police are more closely scrutinizing the family.

"(In) essence, this is to put some pressure on some family member to step forward and to say this is what happened to this young child," Copus said.

Based on his experience, Copus said, a profile of the person responsible for the child's disappearance has by now been developed by authorities. Thus, every statement made to the media is designed to communicate with that person, he said.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children supplied five search dogs for a ground search Monday, retracing the areas near the Meadow Wood Apartments that were combed several times last week by police and volunteers.

Police also conducted a roadblock Sunday evening near the Guerra home looking for anyone who traveled that route at the same time of day that authorities believe the girl disappeared.

The girl's mother, Eva Guerra, told police that she and her children fell asleep in the living room of their first-floor apartment about 11:30 p.m. last Sunday and that she discovered her daughter missing and the front door unlocked when she woke up about 4 a.m.

The mother told police her daughter had let herself out in the past, but police have moved away from that scenario as more time has passed without a trace of the girl. The reward for Analyce's safe return rose Monday to a total of $26,000.

Analyce is about 3 feet tall and weighs 35 pounds. She was last seen wearing a denim overall dress with sunflowers and beads. Her shoulder-length hair was in a ponytail.

Guadalupe Gonzalez, Analyce's grandmother, said Monday that officers had been in close contact with the family but that none of the girl's immediate relatives had been interviewed since last week. Gonzalez said she hadn't been told that any family members are being looked at as suspects.

She and her daughter are arranging to meet with counselors to discuss how to explain Analyce's disappearance to her five siblings.

"They're starting to react differently," Gonzalez said. "They miss their sister."

[Admin]

Search For Smyrna Girl Enters Third Week

WKRN
May 8, 2006

Smyrna TN--It has now been two weeks since Analyce Guerra went missing. Guerra, 2, disappeared from her apartment on April 23. Since then, authorities have searched the area around the Meadow Wood Apartment complex without any success.

Even though her trail grows colder with every passing day, Smyrna Police are not giving up hope. Divers from Rutherford County's special operations unit were back out helping Smyrna Police in the search Monday. The investigation again centered on Stewart Creek near the Guerra home.

The massive investigation includes the FBI, TBI and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Since Guerra was reported missing, hundreds of Amber Alert flyers have been distributed throughout the community and authorities describe the investigation as "non stop.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol used an underwater camera to look for clues, while Smyrna Police searched the banks of Stewart Creek. A THP......helicopter flew overhead, hoping to find Guerra. Despite that police have few clues in Guerra’s disappearance, her mother has hope. “Everyday is a new day with something new. You never know they can come with Ana in their arms, so I just wait anxiously for her,” said Guerra’s mother Eva.

Eva said all she wants is her daughter. She urges whoever has her to put a nametag on her and “drop her off at a gas station, drop her off at a Walgreens, a Food Lion, at a Wal-Mart, anywhere, just so they can see who she is and bring her back home." Until then, the search will continue.

If you have any information about Guerra, you are urged to call Smyrna Police or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND .

[Admin]

Mom fears family acquaintance took daughter

The Tennessean
5/26/06

SMYRNA - A little more than a month after her daughter's disappearance, Eva Guerra is almost certain someone that knows her family took 2-year-old Analyce.

"I'm not for certain, but I'm thinking it's someone we know, just for the simple fact that it's been a month, and we haven't heard anything," Guerra said. "If someone came to the door and grabbed her, she wouldn't cry if she knew them."

Guerra reported her daughter missing from their Meadow Wood apartment on Nissan Drive around 4:30 a.m. April 24. The family had been out visiting the night before, and when they came home, they ate dinner in the living room. The mother said when she fell asleep on the couch about 11:30 p.m. April 23, all six of her children Moses (11), Johnathan (7), twins Jason and Nehemias Jr. (6), Gloria (4), and Analyce were accounted for. When she woke up for a drink of water around 4 a.m., Analyce was gone and the front door to the apartment was unlocked.

"I don't know what happened. I've been racking my brain trying to figure it out," Guerra said.

Hours after Analyce's disappearance, police and volunteers searched a two-mile radius of the apartment complex five times, including known drainage basins, vacant buildings and large trash bins. In the following days, search dogs and bloodhounds were used several times. Investigators checked nearby Stewarts Creek and its banks on numerous occasions, but there was no sign of Analyce.

In the first stages of the investigation, more than 100 law enforcement officers were on the case. Now, Smyrna Police Detective Jeff Peach is working Analyce's case full time, along with one agent each from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and FBI.

More than 200 leads have been checked out, but there are still no answers, he said.

Peach said there is some frustration involved, but cases such as this take time.

"You don't solve a case right off. We're confident that we'll find out what happened and find her," he said. "Every so often you have to back up and find a new strategy."

The number of leads called in each day has lessened considerably than when Analyce first disappeared, Peach noted.

"The mass communication goes out in the beginning and everybody's looking for her, everybody thinks they see her, and they call in with what they know," he said.

"Sometimes you wind up getting a better-developed lead. As time goes on, people may remember seeing something that was out of the ordinary and call in," Peach said.

If someone does have Analyce, Guerra wants them to know how much hurt they've cause her family.

"Moses and Johnathan play outside every day because they thing they're going to find her and bring her home. Gloria wakes up in the middle of the night and prays that God will bring her back. The twins just want her home," the mother said.

"I pray for God to touch their heart and come forward. If somebody saw something, they need to talk. It ain't getting any easier," Guerra added. "I'm sure she misses us."

Guerra and other family members continue to post fliers with Analyce's picture and description in Nashville and Rutherford County, something she will continue to do until her baby girl comes home.

[Admin]

Hunt for girl turns to Stewarts Creek

By Mealand Ragland-Hudgins
The Daily News Journal
7/21/06

SMYRNA — Police looking into the disappearance of 2-year-old Analyce Guerra hope to dam part of Stewarts Creek to look for her, the lead investigator confirmed.

Part of the creek runs near Meadow Wood Apartments, where the toddler was last seen April 23. Smyrna detective Jeff Peach said it makes sense to look there again.

"We've got a body of water nearby that a child can walk to. We're working with the city engineers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who actually has jurisdiction over the water … to get the approval to do so," Peach said Wednesday.

Peach is not sure when the search may take place. Parts of the creek in investigators' 2.5-mile search grid, as well as areas suggested by several search experts — some as far away as England — would be checked, he said. Police dragged the creek's bottom two days after Analyce was reported missing.

Bill Peoples, spokesman for the Corps, said he wasn't aware of the police plans but wasn't sure if damming the creek was possible.

"Creeks are much shallower than lakes. Law enforcement have sonar they can use" to search under water. "If they got a hit on something that looked like a body, they could just have divers go in and search," he said.

Earlier this month, Analyce's mother, Eva Guerra, said she had received two mysterious phone calls. In one, from a blocked number, she heard a little girl laughing in the background. Another came from the 931 area code used throughout Middle Tennessee. The man on the other end simply assured her that her daughter was safe before hanging up, she said.

Peach said he, FBI Agent Utley Noble and TBI Agent Jason Locke are working to track down the callers.

"I don't want to put too much (information) out there. We might scare somebody off," he said.

Analyce was last seen wearing a denim dress with sunflowers and beads and had her hair in a ponytail. The area within a two-mile radius of the family's apartment complex was searched five times by air and foot, and bloodhounds were used.

Guerra said the toddler had been asleep on the living room floor about 11 p.m. the night before she was reported missing.

[Admin]

Feds put hold on Analyce's father
Nehemias Guerra arrested on two counts sexual battery

By Mealand Ragland-Hudgins
The Daily News Journal
11/22/06

The father of missing toddler Analyce Guerra remains in the Rutherford County jail on a hold authorized by federal immigration officials.

Nehemias Guerra, 28, was arrested in Nashville last Wednesday, five months after the Rutherford County Grand Jury indicted him on two counts of aggravated sexual battery in June.

The case dates back to 2001 or 2002 and involves a girl who was under the age of 13 at the time the alleged battery occurred, according to court documents.

It does not involve Analyce or any of the children living with his wife, Eva Guerra. The two are separated.

He is being held without bond on a request by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents because he is an illegal immigrant, said sheriff's Deputy Dan Goodwin.

Smyrna Detective Jeff Peach, lead investigator on Analyce's case, said the arrest does not make Guerra any more of a suspect in the girl's disappearance.

What I can tell you is the people we considered suspects then are still suspects now. The only reason I say that is because we don't have Analyce back," Peach told The Daily News Journal. "We knew about this before (he was arrested). It was a red flag, and we've always reminded ourselves of that."

Guerra had been separated from his wife, Eva Guerra, for about 18 months at the time Analyce disappeared. At that time, he said he'd last seen his daughter two or three weekends before April 24, when she was first reported missing.

Eva Guerra has said the last time she saw her daughter was around 11:30 p.m. on April 23, before she and her six children fell asleep in the living room of the family's MeadowWood Apartment on Nissan Drive. The mother said when she woke up a few hours later, the child was gone and the front door to the apartment was unlocked.

The child did have a habit, the mother said, of unlocking the door when she heard children outside playing.

When contacted Monday evening, Eva Guerra said she knew of the arrest but couldn't comment on it.

Investigators have gone to great lengths to find the missing child, including searching a two-mile radius of the apartment complex several times by air and foot, using search dogs and underwater search equipment. In September, local and federal investigators spent four days draining and searching a 1,000-foot section of Stewarts Creek to search for clues related to Analyce's disappearance.

Peach said leads in the case have continued to decline since April and most leads now come from follow-up interviews.

"Our No. 1 goal is finding Analyce. Second is any kind of prosecution. I keep in mind all the time that that's my priority," the detective said.

[Admin]

A year later, family still awaits Smyrna child's safe return
Toddler object of massive search to no avail

By MEALAND RAGLAND-HUDGINS
Gannett Tennessee
04/24/07

SMYRNA — When Analyce Guerra returns home, she'll be 3 and her mother and grandmother plan to cuddle the girl for at least a week.

"I can't wait for her to get back," said Guadalupe Gonzales, Analyce's grandmother. "Eva (the toddler's mother) told me that when she gets back, Ana's going to sleep with her for at least a week. Then I said, 'Get ready because I'm sleeping with you.' "

Even though Analyce went missing a year ago today, the women don't talk about "if" the toddler will show up. To them, the question is when.

Over the past year, several agencies, including the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, have helped search for Analyce. FBI agents in field offices across the U.S., the agency's headquarters in Quantico, Va., and some outside of the U.S. have worked with the local investigation team, which includes FBI agent Utley Noble.

"The good thing is that through the FBI, we've had just about every resource there is available to us. We're still moving forward, leaving no stone unturned," said Smyrna detective Jeff Peach, "but we just haven't been able to produce the answer we want at this time."

"You'll work a lead that you feel is a positive lead and once you investigate it as far as you can investigate it and don't get the answer you anticipated, of course you get frustrated."

There's been little progress.

In the past years, hundreds of leads have been investigated, including one report on HighwayWatch.com that said the girl could have been abducted by the MS-13 gang and could be en route to Guatemala. Eva Guerra's ex-husband is from Guatemala.

Police still consider Nehemias Guerra a suspect in the child's disappearance. In November, he was arrested on charges of inappropriate sexual conduct with a juvenile who is related to the child's mother. He is scheduled to appear in court in mid-May.

At the time of Analyce's disappearance, Nehemias Guerra had been separated from Eva Guerra for about 18 months. He said he'd last seen his daughter two or three weekends before the day she went missing.

What started out as an Amber Alert for the missing toddler that day quickly transformed into a full-scale missing child investigation, complete with scent-sniffing police dogs, the draining of Stewarts Creek and siblings who miss their baby sister more than anything.

"They say, 'It's been a long time. When's Ana coming home? When's my sister coming home?' " the grandmother said.

Analyce was last seen about 11:30 p.m. April 23, 2006, a few hours after the family had returned from a friend's house.

Eva Guerra and her five children, then ages 2-11, slept in the living room of the MeadowWood apartment on Nissan Drive they shared. About 4 a.m. the next morning, the mother said she woke up for a drink of water. Analyce, who had a habit of unlocking the door and going outside, was gone and the door to the apartment was unlocked.

Eva Guerra remembers kissing her daughter, who was 2 at the time, good night before falling asleep. She, too, thought Analyce would be home by now.

"All I want is my baby girl safe, back at home playing with her brothers and making a mess of everything," Guerra said.

[Admin]

Mother Of Missing Child Still Hopeful
Analyce Guerra Missing Since April 2006

Marc Stewart
WSMV
11/21/2007

SMYRNA, Tenn. -- Analyce Guerra disappeared more than a year ago and her mother is trying a new tactic that could change the course of the search.

The child’s mother, Eva, is hiring an artist to draw pictures that will show her daughter's age progression, and he’s also looking into hiring a private investigator.

Even though Analyce hasn't been seen since April 23, 2006, her mother and sister are still planning a reunion and keeping their spirits up.

The family has even been shopping and collecting clothes and toys for Analyce, whose fourth birthday is on Dec 21.

"I still think she's here. I think she's here in Smyrna," said Eva Guerra.

While Guerra hasn't seen her daughter, she said it's her mother's instinct that tells her that Analyce is nearby.

"There's just weird things that happen. I can be driving on I-24 and sometimes I feel like we've passed by each other. It's weird. I'm just driving and my heart starts pounding, and I can hear her," said Guerra.

She’s now finished college and hopes to go to nursing school, and said Analyce will need a strong mother when she returns.

"There's not one day that I don't pray about it. Just bring her home, no matter when or how long it takes. I just want her home safe and healthy," said Eva Guerra.

Even though Eva is moving forward, some big parts of her life are still on hold. She is engaged but said she won't get married until her daughter is found.

[Admin]

Human Remains Found In Murfreesboro
Officials Not Yet Sure Of Identity, Sex Of Remains

Marc Stewart
WSMV
1/11/07

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Police are investigating the discovery of a human skull that was first found in Murfreesboro on Friday afternoon.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed that a skull was found in a rural area near a rock quarry behind the Stones River National Battlefield Park.

Detectives from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department and the TBI searched the woods near the battlefield.

Authorities continued the search on Saturday morning and found more remains close to where the skull was found

Officials said they are not sure if the skull belongs to a man or woman, the identity or how long it has been there.

The skull was found in rough terrain on private property.

Officials said detectives would remain at the scene throughout the night to investigate.

[Admin]

Reports: Remains may belong to missing toddler

The Daily News Journal
1/12/2007

SMYRNA — The Smyrna mother of a missing 2-year-old girl and the detective who has dedicated himself to finding her are angry over unconfirmed reports that remains found last week could be hers.

"I know that's not her," Eva Guerra told The Daily News Journal Friday after hearing about the report that aired on Nashville's WSMV television station and Fox17.

WSMV cited information gained from "four different law enforcement sources," who stated the remains found near the Stones River National Battlefield a week ago were likely those of Analyce Guerra. Analyce vanished from her Smyrna apartment April 23, 2006, while the family was sleeping.

"We have not been told anything," Guerra said. "We don't know if it's an adult or a child. For them (Channel 4) to say it may be my daughter, they could be sued. They don't know the harm that they are causing me and my family."

Fox17 cited a source familiar with the investigation as saying the remains could be those of the missing child.

But Smyrna Detective Jeff Peach, who has spearheaded the investigation since Analyce's disappearance, said, "As far as I know, the remains have still not been identified."

A massive search of surrounding woods and a nearby creek, national Amber alert and national television appeals to help locate the child all went unrewarded.

"We're still praying for Anna," Eva Guerra said. "I'm praying for whoever's family that may be."

Walkers discovered a human skull last Friday afternoon near a Civil War memorial off Old Nashville Highway. The discovery led the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office to cordon off an area of nearby woods for a period of 19 hours, during which time additional remains were discovered.

The remains were turned over to forensic experts with the state medical examiner's office to determine the person's age, sex and approximate time of death.

Detective Sgt. Dan Goodwin, who is spokesman for the Sheriff's Office, had no comment when asked about the news report. He previously said the Sheriff's Office is working with other agencies to determine if the remains could be linked to any missing person cases.

Eva Guerra said her 13-year-old son, Moses, saw the newscast and left the room with a stunned look on his face.

"He doesn't need to be thinking whether or not someone killed his sister," she said. "I haven't been told anything. My kids don't need to see that."

Peach said there is nothing to comment on and that the report on WSMV was upsetting and cruel to the family.

He said the Smyrna Police Department was notified when the bones were discovered last week, but "couldn't give any other information beyond that as it would be impeding on the county's case and we don't want to do that."

[Admin]

Police ID remains as Smyrna toddler; trauma 'obvious'

Mealnd Ragland-Hudgins
The Daily News Journal
March 6, 2008

SMYRNA — A two-year search for a missing toddler is now a homicide investigation.

Through DNA testing, the state medical examiner’s office confirmed today that the skeletal remains found in January at Stones River National Battlefield belong to Analyce Guerra, who was 2 when she was reported missing from her family’s apartment.

Signs of foul play were “obvious,” said Detective Jeff Peach, who has worked the case from the beginning. “There is trauma, but that’s all we’re going to say at this time because it is an ongoing investigation.”

Peach broke the news to the family at the police department this evening, and described family members as being “distraught” and “crying.” Eva Guerra, Analyce’s mother, could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

Walkers discovered a human skull Jan. 4 near a Civil War memorial at the battlefield off Old Nashville Highway in Murfreesboro, about five miles south of Smyrna.
Peach said nearly a full skeleton was recovered.

Analyce’s remains had been at the battlefield since the time of her death, likely the day of or shortly after she vanished from her family’s home at Meadow Wood Apartments April 23, 2006, he said.

“I can’t think of a motive why anyone would want to hurt a child this age. I think everyone, including myself, hoped for the best,” Peach said.

Thousands of hours had been spent on the case, the detective said.

Early on, Smyrna Police, the FBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol and hundreds of volunteers performed aerial, ground and water searches for the toddler. A section of Stewarts Creek was drained as part of the search.

The entire time Analyce has been missing, investigators have worked two cases: whether the child walked away from the apartment by herself, since she had been known to leave the apartment by herself on occasion, or whether someone took her.

“Now we’ve confirmed it,” Peach said. “This is a day we know to turn our sights to a different direction.”

Investigators will continue to work the list of suspects that have developed since the beginning of the case. No one has been ruled out.

“We’re still looking at all avenues and moving forward,” he said. “After two years, you begin to eat, sleep and breathe the case.”

[Admin]

Grandmother: Analyce "in heaven"

Mealnd Ragland-Hudgins
The Daily News Journal
March 7, 2008

SMYRNA — News that Analyce Guerra is no longer alive was not what Guadalupe Gonzales wanted to hear Thursday.

“But at least we have closure and know that she’s in heaven,” Gonzales, Analyce’s grandmother, said Friday. “It’s been pretty hard.”

After receiving DNA confirmation from the state medical examiner’s office, police announced Thursday night that the skeletal remains found at the Stones River Battlefield on Jan. 4 belonged to the toddler, who was 2 when she vanished from her family’s home at Meadow Wood Apartments April 23, 2006 while her family slept.

Detective Jeff Peach has worked the case from the onset and said “obvious” foul play is involved and that Analyce suffered some trauma, but wouldn’t say exactly how due to the ongoing investigation.

Gonzales said she and her daughter, Eva Guerra, didn’t sleep much Thursday night.

"She’s so upset. She kept asking, ‘Mama, what did they do to my baby? What did she do to have to suffer like that?,’” Gonzales said.

The grandmother did not know when the child’s remains would be turned over to the family, but said they are working to get relatives in from various places, including Texas and Colorado, by Sunday night.

[Admin]

Smyrna toddler's death torments family, friends

Mealnd Ragland-Hudgins
The Daily News Journal
March 8, 2008

SMYRNA — Analyce Guerra's family and police investigating the toddler's disappearance weren't the only ones crushed to learn that she was dead.

"I was hoping someone in her family took her overseas and she was staying with them. When I found out it was her remains, it was very devastating," said Glen Mitchell. The local businessman contributed almost one-third of a $16,000 reward offered shortly after the then-2-year-old girl disappeared from her family's home at MeadowWood Apartments in April 2006.

"It's just a sad thing there are people on the streets that would do something like that," Mitchell said Friday. "People like that don't belong in society. I've lived in Rutherford County all my life and never heard of a crime like this happening."

Police said Thursday that bones found Jan. 4 near the Stones River Battlefield were those of Analyce. The remains were identified through DNA testing.

Detective Jeff Peach, who has worked the case from the beginning, said signs of foul play were "obvious."

Peach said he has been working with family members by answering their questions about funeral arrangements and relaying information to family outside the immediate area. At one time, Analyce's case was the only one Peach worked.

They hoped for best

Tom Harmon of Smyrna's citizens police academy alumni association said several of the group's members spent the initial days of the search checking ditches and pipes for any sign of the toddler. When it was time to drain a 1,000-foot section of Stewarts Creek to look for clues, members helped with area roadblocks and served food to the search teams.

"You kept hoping they were going to find her, hoping someone picked her up and that she'd have a reunion with her family. Now you kind of wonder what did happen. They found her, but there's still no closure. I think everybody wants that, to know what happened," he said.

Although she worked two full-time jobs, Jenefer Sullivan, her mother and daughter searched for Analyce for four days. Sullivan had intended to break the news Friday morning to her 9-year-old daughter, Taylor. But the girl had already seen it on television.

"Taylor is so broken up over this she cried all morning, so I kept her home from school," Sullivan said, adding that one of Analyce's siblings was her daughter's classmate at Smyrna Elementary.

Siblings try to cope

Analyce's brothers and sisters range in age from 13 to 6. The younger ones, 8-year-old twins Jason and Nehemias Jr. and 6-year-old Gloria, haven't fully grasped the events of the past two years. They approach their mother, Eva Guerra, or grandmother, Guadalupe Gonzales, and ask what the tears are for.

"We tell them that Ana isn't alive anymore and they forget. Then they come back a little while later and ask why we are crying and we have to tell them again," the grandmother said.

"Moses is older, so he understands. He says, 'Grandma, we've been praying that everything would be all right.' He told me he always ended his prayers with, 'If it's your will, Ana will come home,' " she said.

Shortly after Analyce disappeared, Gloria began to name all of her dolls after her baby sister. She still does today, Gonzales said.

News that her granddaughter is no longer alive was not what she wanted to hear Thursday.

"But at least we have closure and know that she's in heaven," she said Friday morning. "It's been pretty hard."

Gonzales said she and her daughter didn't sleep much Thursday night, as they spent most of the night crying.

"She's so upset. She kept asking, 'Mama, what did they do to my baby? What did she do to have to suffer like that?' " Gonzales said.

The grandmother did not know when the child's remains would be turned over to the family, but said they are working to get relatives in from various places, including Texas, California and Colorado, by Sunday night.

"I've got six girls (in addition to four sons) and they're all really close. We're just trying to come up with the funds (to get them here) now," Gonzales said.

Looking for suspects

Thursday's information upgraded the investigation to a homicide, Peach said. He said anyone connected to the child is considered a suspect.

"No one's been cleared. Everybody's been spoken with and investigated, but not cleared," he said.

The area where the remains were found belongs to LoJac, which is near the battlefield boundary, according to LoJac founder Jack Lowery Sr.

[Admin]

Analyce's family plans memorial service, funeral

Mealnd Ragland-Hudgins
The Daily News Journal
March 12, 2008

SMYRNA — Though it's been nearly a week since Eva Guerra got the news that her daughter Analyce is no longer alive, she still struggles with the truth.

"I've been mostly in my room because I've been angry. I keep hearing them telling me it's her, but I can't believe it sometimes. I just never thought anybody would hurt her," Guerra said, wiping tears from her hazel eyes.

Walkers found a human skull at the LoJac rock quarry on Old Nashville Highway Jan. 4 and investigators spent 19 hours searching for other remains, which amounted to a nearly complete skeleton. Last Thursday, Smyrna Detective Jeff Peach informed the family that DNA tests conducted by the state medical examiner's office belonged to the toddler who had been missing for nearly two years.

Peach said that the child suffered some trauma and that signs of foul play were obvious, but will not comment further due to the ongoing investigation.

Guerra said she'd always hoped that wherever Analyce was, that she was safe and being cared for. Knowing the truth is upsetting for her other four children — especially the oldest, 13-year old Moses — and the rest of the family as well.

"He says, 'Mom I wish I was dead and not the baby.' I tell him it would be the same because he's my baby and I would still cry for him, too. Gloria (now 6) cries because she doesn't have a sister anymore," Guerra said.

The family will hold a small memorial service for Analyce Friday at 5 p.m. at their home, located at 203 Branch Trail. Funeral services will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at Woodfin Memorial Chapel on Lowry Street.

"Anybody that wants to come is more than welcome to," said Guadalupe Gonzales, the child's grandmother.

Guerra and her nine siblings were raised in Los Fresnos, a small town on the Texas/Mexico border. Having her eight brothers and sisters so far away — Colorado, Texas and California — is hard because they're all close.

"I'm just scared about what will happen when I get her remains back," she said, adding the family may be able to pick them up as soon as Friday.

The grandmother said Analyce loved music and enjoyed going to church. Her favorite song was a Spanish song called "You are all powerful, almighty God" when translated into English.

"I just imagine her in the presence of God singing that song. Wow. I can't even imagine what heaven's like. But I know we'll all see her again. We're just hanging on to our faith," Gonzales said.

Beans were Analyce's favorite food.

"She ate them one by one," said Eva's brother, Euvoldo Gonzales, the only other member of the family living in Tennessee. He last saw Analyce when she was around 20 months old.

"She didn't want a fork or a spoon or anything," the grandmother said.

When their worst fear was confirmed on Thursday, Gonzales said she cried for her granddaughter that day, but not again until Tuesday morning.

"I've been crying for my daughter. She's hurting so much right now and in so much pain," she said.

Analyce's mother and grandmother say they both want to leave Tennessee because of the circumstances surrounding the girl's death, but say they won't.

"I'm really angry because I thought I would find her, just not this way. I want to be here the day they find out who did this and make them pay. They not only hurt my baby, but they hurt my kids and the rest of my family," Guerra said. "I hope they pay every single day of their life."

She said she hasn't had any contact with Analyce's father, Nehemias Guerra, since he was deported last year after being arrested in 2006 on an unrelated sexual battery charge involving a minor. The child involved is related to Eva Guerra.

"I don't know if he knows (that Analyce is dead or what happened to her) but somebody knows something," she said.

"The person who did this has to be stopped. There are so many other babies out there," the grandmother said. "I told Detective Peach, 'I know you worked hard and you did your job, but please, please work extra hard to find the person who did this to Ana."

"She won't be forgotten, but it's so hard. We'll never forget her," she said.

[Admin]

Analyce death hard to handle two years later

The Daily News Journal
March 12, 2008

Smyrna lost its small-town innocence in July 2000 when three people were killed in the robbery of Captain D's. The town lost a little more of its soul in April 2006 when 2-year-old Analyce Guerra disappeared from her home at MeadowWood Apartments.

Nearly two years later, the missing persons search for little Analyce is now a murder investigation. DNA testing from skeletal remains found Jan. 4 near Stones River National Battlefield confirmed they belonged to Analyce.

Smyrna Police who have worked the case from the beginning believe foul play is involved and that Analyce suffered trauma that caused her death.

The pain her family members are feeling must be immeasurable. They had held out hope the little child could still be alive, but now that their worst fears are confirmed the best they can do is hope for law enforcement to find the culprit.

From the outset, this case energized the people of Smyrna. People from across the community helped canvass the area searching for the child in the days immediately after her disappearance. Residents also helped authorities when they drained a 1,000-foot section of Stewart Creek to see if they could find her body or any other clues in its murky depths.

Now that her remains have been found people are still rallying around the case. Glen Mitchell, owner of Affordable Driveways by Glen, is putting up $5,000 of a $16,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in her murder. Mitchell also held out hope that she was still alive, and the confirmation of her death devastated him.

"I've lived in Rutherford County all my life and never heard of a crime like this happening," said Mitchell.

Analyce's death is disturbing to the entire community because when a child disappears from our midst, the foundation of society is shaken. Our feelings of safety and security start to slip away, and we don't want to let children out of our sight.

Our confidence in fellow man is tested. How, we ask, could another human being do such a thing to a small child?

Yet even amid the evil that allowed a person to take the life of an innocent child, we find good in this community's response.

The genuine love and concern shown to the Guerra family cannot be discounted. At one point, Analyce's disappearance was the only case Smyrna Detective Jeff Peach was working. That a local law enforcement agency would go to such lengths as draining an entire stretch of Stewarts Creek speaks volumes to the efforts of Smyrna Police to find the child.

Coping with the disappearance of Analyce has not been easy. The realization that she has been dead for a long period only makes Smyrna Police redouble efforts to find her killer. Based on their efforts in the past, we know they will not rest until the case is done.

We pray they bring it to an end.