The father of a 6-year-old Isabel Celis, who vanished just over three weeks ago, has now been barred from having contact with his two other children. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
By KVOA.com, NBC News affiliate in Tuscon, and msnbc.com news services
PHOENIX - Tucson police on Monday released recordings of 911 calls reporting the disappearance of Arizona 6-year-old Isabel Celis, who authorities said may have been snatched from her bed last month.
The high-profile search for hazel-eyed Isabel, who was reported missing on April 21 from the home she shared with her older brothers and both parents, drew national media attention as volunteers and police combed streets in her middle class Tucson neighborhood looking for her.
In the audio recording, Isabel's father, Sergio Celis, calmly tells the operator he wants to "to report a missing person. My little girl who's 6-years-old. I believe she was abducted from our house."
Dad asked to stay away from missing Tucson girl's brothers
The second 911 was placed by Isabel's mother, Rebecca. The audio of the call and a transcript were posted by NBC News affiliate in Tuscon, KVOA.com.
Rebecca: Hello?
Dispatcher: Hello ma'am are you the mom?
Rebecca: Yes.
Dispatcher: Okay, what is your name?
Rebecca: My name is Rebecca Celis. C-E-L-I-S
Dispatcher: Okay, anything else you remember she was wearing and her hair?
Rebecca: Her hair is in braids. It's in little ponytails. I made little ponytails on her head last night before she went to bed.
Dispatcher: So who, noticed her gone, your husband?
Rebecca: My husband, I went to work this morning at seven and um, I just, and I didn't even come and check on her, I should have come and checked on her.
Dispatcher: Okay, now you looked everywhere, under the beds, the closets, everything?
Rebecca: Yeah, I looked everywhere, I even looked _______— (inaudible) the windows out of our house. Somebody took the window out of our house.
Earlier on Monday, police said Isabel's two elder brothers had been placed in the sole care of their mother over concerns for their welfare.
More recordings at NBC News affiliate in Tuscon, KVOA.com
Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said the girl's father, Sergio Celis, had agreed not to have any contact with his sons, who are now in the care of their mother, Rebecca Celis.
Villasenor told reporters at a news conference that Sergio Celis had entered a voluntary agreement with Child Protective Services to stay away from the children, but declined to elaborate.
"Child Protective Services said that this would be the best scenario at this point," he said. The police chief did not give the boys' ages or names.
The girl's parents have told police Isabel was last seen when she was put to bed on the night of April 20. The family awoke the next morning to find her bed empty. Authorities said a window to the girl's ground-floor room was open, and a screen was missing.
Police have said they are treating the girl's disappearance as a "possible abduction," but have yet to rule anyone out as a suspect.
1,000 tips from the public
In a news release on Friday, Tucson police said they had been in contact with Child Protective Services after becoming aware of "information regarding the welfare of the older Celis children," but did not elaborate.
Several days after Isabel vanished, Sergio and Rebecca Celis made a tearful public appeal for her safe return, pleading with their daughter's presumed abductors to "tell us what you want."
After making their brief, anguished appeal, they hugged volunteers who helped in a search for their missing daughter, then walked away without fielding questions from the media.
During the search in recent weeks, Villasenor said police have received more than 1,000 tips from the public. Police have also canvassed homes in a 3-mile radius of the girl's home and searched the Celis house using sniffer dogs.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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