Local News

Search Continues For Missing 2-Year-Old

Posted Updated
Edwin Gonzales and Jorge Aguilera
PITTSBORO, N.C. — Nearly two days after an Amber Alert was issued for a 2-year-old Chatham County boy, investigators say they are waiting for tips to help them find the child.

Meanwhile, investigators arrested four men in connection with the early-Sunday arrest of Edwin Gonzales.

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    Search Continues For Missing 2-Year-Old

    Investigators believe Lorenzo Coria, 18, the boy's uncle, and Marcelino Tomas, 28, were two of the four men who forced their way into the home of the boy's mother, Florentina Gonzales Coria.

    Florentina Coria told WRAL the men used duct tape to restrain her, the boy's grandfather and her cousin. Investigators said the assailants threatened to kill the victims if they did not turn over Gonzales. Florentina Coria said Aguilera took the child because he was angry that he was not granted custody of him.

    Lorenzo Coria and Tomas are in the Chatham County jail facing burglary and kidnapping charges.

    Authorities also arrested Francisco Rodriguez, 23. Investigators searched his residence Sunday night and found a pistol that they said had been stolen in Moore County. He was charged with felonious possession of a stolen firearm. Rodriguez is being held in the Chatham County jail without bond on an Immigration and Naturalization Service detainer.

    Investigators are also holding Elvis Nino Hernandez without bond on an INS detainer. Authorities believe he may have driven the suspects to the house.

    Amber Alerts were issued on Sunday in both North Carolina and South Carolina, where investigators believe Aguilera may be headed. He could also be headed to Mexico, authorities believe.

    Aguilera's mother told WRAL on Monday that she did not think her son would hurt the child.

    "The part that concerns me is (the way) the child was abducted by gunpoint, four people entering the house, duct-taping the victim, the mother, and other people in the house," said Chatham County Sheriff Richard Webster. "That's the scary part, right there."

    Late Sunday evening, authorities in Gaston County found a sport utility vehicle they believed to have been linked to Gonzales' disappearance. Gonzales and Aguilera were not in the vehicle. Two women, who were found with the vehicle, were interviewed and released. It is unclear at this point in the investigation if the vehicle was involved.

    Gonzales is 3 feet tall, weighs about 25 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and a diaper.

    Aguilera, 29, is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 145 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and is considered armed and dangerous.

    Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Chatham County's Sheriff's Office at

    919-542-2911

    or local law enforcement.

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