Lynn’s Pine Grove Cemetery targeted in search for missing boy

LYNN – Over a dozen State Police and Lynn police tramped up steep slopes and probed underbrush with long poles Monday as the search for missing 5-year-old Giovanni Gonzalez entered its second week.The midday search of wooded areas on the Boston Street side of Pine Grove Cemetery involved K-9 cadaver dogs but a member of the State Police search team said the hunt for the boy continues to be a search-and-rescue mission, rather than a recovery mission.State Police Lt. Elaine Gill said Monday’s search was aimed at ruling out all possible locations where Gonzalez could be.”We are just trying to cover all the bases. When you have a missing child you follow every lead and try to cover a good area,” she said.Gonzalez was reported missing Aug. 17 after his mother, Daisy Colon of East Boston, went to retrieve him from a scheduled visitation at his father’s 2 Brightwood Terrace apartment.The boy’s father, Ernesto Gonzalez, 36, said he did not have the boy, despite reports that the two were seen playing ball together on Aug. 16. Gonzalez has refused to cooperate with police and was charged with child endangerment. He is being held on $500,000 cash bail.Last week’s search focused on Gonzalez’ downtown apartment building and one next to it as well as surrounding streets. Brightwood Terrace runs off Essex Street opposite Washington Street Baptist Church. It is a block away from District Court and the Lynn police station.Searchers converged midweek on Flax Pond but a neighbors’ tip turned out to be a dead animal. By last weekend, police aided by the FBI were stopping motorists downtown and handing them flyers describing Giovanni.The stops were timed for one week after the boy’s disappearance in an effort to jog the memories of drivers who may have driven through the Brightwood Terrace area the Saturday or Sunday before and caught a glimpse of father and son.Monday’s search of Pine Grove centered on a steep slope near the cemetery entrance where searchers probed through piles of trash and junk snagged in the underbrush. Police also searched along the base of a stretch of the cemetery’s stonewall.Even as searchers continue looking for the boy locally, national efforts are underway to find anyone with information about Giovanni. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the television show, America’s Most Wanted, have added information on Gonzalez and his picture to their website.Jon Leiberman, New York correspondent for the TV show, said he would know by Wednesday if Giovanni’s disappearance is going to be aired on this Saturday’s episode. The show is broadcast Saturday’s at 9 p.m. on Fox TV channels.”We’ve been in touch with law enforcement and we will be able to generate phone and email leads. The bottom line is somebody knows where this child is,” Leiberman said.On Friday, the Item reported that authorities discovered a bloody mop inside Gonzalez’ apartment, along with a bottle of pine cleaner with blood on it. Gonzalez had a laceration to his left hand, which he has refused to explain to police.