Unit 1012 Cover Photo

Unit 1012 Cover Photo

Sunday, April 21, 2019

IN LOVING MEMORY OF 11-YEAR-OLD ISABEL CELIS (AUGUST 27, 2005 TO APRIL 21, 2012)



Isabel Celis
(August 27, 2005 to April 21, 2012)


We, the comrades of Unit 1012, will honor and remember 11-year-old Isabel Celis on August 27 and April 21 every year.  

We, the comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will make her one of The 82 murdered children of Unit 1012, where we will not forget her. Let us remember how she lived and not how she died. We will always support her family members.

Hundreds attend funeral for Isabel Celis, once-missing Tucson girl
More than 450 mourners gathered Saturday morning at St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson to celebrate the short life of 6-year-old Isabel Celis, who disappeared five years ago.

Her remains were discovered last month in a remote part of Pima County, ending the hope that she would someday be reunited with her family. No arrests have been made.

A small card handed to attendees listed Isabel's birth date as Aug. 27, 2005, and her death date as March 3, 2017 — just under a month before police publicly announced that her body had been found. 

Family and friends wore purple. Before Mass began, attendees waited to pay their respects to the family, faces red with grief as they hugged Isabel's parents. The church was crowded with families, many with children who weren't even born when Isabel went missing. 

An easel at the front of the church held large photos of Isabel, her shoulder-length brown hair framing her beaming face. Pink flowers lined the altar. 

Before the Mass began, Isabel's mother, Becky Celis, standing with Isabel's father, Sergio Celis, thanked the crowd for the years of prayers and support.

"We, our family, thank you guys so much," she said, asking everyone to "remember my baby girl happy and playing. Not the way she was taken, but the good memories." 

Isabel Celis
(August 27, 2005 to April 21, 2012)

Mystery surrounding the death

During the service, conducted in English and Spanish, a mariachi band played before the Scripture readings and prayers.Speakers mentioned the mystery surrounding the girl's death. 

Father Miguel Mariano spoke of the beauty of Isabel’s innocence that was taken from her family. He directed mourners to embrace a comforting “sacred silence” aimed to help them remember the young girl’s laugh or voice once more. The answers surrounding her death, Mariano said, would be found in the precious silence.

The Mass concluded with "When You Wish Upon a Star" played on the violin. 

As participants exited, they were handed pink and purple balloons. Becky and Sergio donned purple sunglasses. Together, the crowd released the balloons into the cloudless blue sky.

Relatives, friends and other mourners lingered outside, sharing memories.

Robert Snyder, Isabel's maternal grandfather, said it was heartwarming to see the outpouring of support.

“She was just so friendly and already had a sense of humor. She was just a lovely, lovely young lady,” Snyder said as tears welled behind his sunglasses.

Snyder looked out from the edge of the courtyard to the crowd where children the same age Isabel was at the time of her disappearance ate cookies and doughnuts.

“It’s hope," he said. "We all have to have hope.”

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Reported missing in 2012

Isabel was reported missing from her home near Broadway Boulevard and Craycroft Road on the morning of April 21, 2012, when her father, Sergio, went to wake up Isabel in her bedroom for a baseball game and found she wasn’t there. Her mother had already left for work when Sergio Celis called police. Police records indicate Sergio found Isabel’s bedroom window open and the window screen off and damaged.

An exhaustive search by police and volunteers over 18 months that included going door to door talking to neighbors netted no results. Investigators interviewed neighbors, canvassed parks and searched a landfill in the hopes of finding the girl.

A neighbor told police she heard male voices outside her bedroom window at about 6:30 the morning the girl was reported missing. She said there were no sounds that indicated a struggle.

Police have never named a suspect in connection with the case. Isabel’s parents, particularly her father, were subject to intense scrutiny for weeks following the disappearance. The couple would later make statements concerning a family member who had moved away shortly after the girl’s disappearance as being uncooperative with private investigators retained by the family.

Details of how Isabel’s remains were discovered are scarce.

"We see this as absolutely a tragedy," Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said in a news conference following the discovery of the body. "We were all hoping to find her alive."

Police refused to release them, citing “unintended consequences” they could potentially have on the case. Magnus would not state if police had identified new suspects or whether someone had already been arrested.

However, he said the tragic discovery made earlier this year was “not by happenstance.”

"This is not an ending we would have hoped for, but this is not the end to the case," Magnus said.

Isabel Celis
(August 27, 2005 to April 21, 2012)


OTHER LINKS:
SEEK THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DOUBLE CHILD KILLER, CHRISTOPHER CLEMENTS [FEBRUARY 11, 2019]