Note: UPDATE at bottom of post.
Last Friday night, she was one of a dozen or so altar servers who assisted with the Stations of the Cross and Benediction at my parish in Queens.
She went home afterward.
And then she vanished.
This is one of those nightmares you hope never happens to someone you know. But then it does. And the heart breaks.
Her name is Gabriella Maldonaldo. She is 13-years-old. As someone in my parish put it, “She’s not the type to just take off. This isn’t like her at all.”
Her family and friends are asking for any assistance to help find her and bring her home.
Gabriella Maldonado
108-17 Jamaica Avenue
Queens, NY 11418It was reported to police that the missing was last seen at her residence at 108-17 Jamaica Avenue on Saturday, February 29, 2020, at 0001 hours.
The missing is described as a 13-year-old female, Hispanic, 5’3″ tall, 120 lbs.
She was last seen wearing blue jacket and white pants.
A photograph of the missing is attached and available at DCPI.
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call the NYPD‘s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1–800–577–TIPS(8477) or for Spanish, 1–888–57–PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers‘ website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
All tips will be kept strictly confidential.
Let us pray:
O Mary, you know only too well the anguish and desperation of searching for a missing child.
You stand beside all who seek the lost, and all the lost who yearn to be found.
We pray that you watch over this child, Gabriella.
Help her to know she is loved.
She bears the name of the angel who served as a great herald of hope to you in Nazareth.
We pray that the angel Gabriel can serve as a herald of hope for her now, as Gabriella’s patron, protector and guide. We pray she will be kept safe. We pray for those who love her, who are sick with worry, choked with fear and anxiety.
Help them to know consolation and hope.
Mother of us all, we humbly ask for your intercession, that this missing child may be reunited with those who love her, and know once again her mother’s embrace.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
We ask this, as we ask all things, through your son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Our Lady of Hope, pray for us.
I’ll let you know more when I know more.
Please: remember her and those who love her in your prayers. If you have a spare moment, whisper an “Ave” for her and her mother. Thank you.
UPDATE from Wednesday 3/4/20, 12 noon: Details about her disappearance and more right here.
