Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
On Christmas Eve 2010, 12YO Jonathan Foster disappeared without a trace, his mother received a mysterious phone call at work, and she rushed home to find Jonathan, but it was too late. Investigators immediately took up the case without any clues, they understand that only surveillance cameras can lead them to the truth. What was meant to be a joyful Christmas quickly turned into a nightmare for the Foster family.
on a christmas eve a 12 year – old disapeared without a trace from his home.
what was supposed to be a joyful holliday for the foster family instead turned into an unimaginable nightmare.
only thanks to the coodinate efforts of investigators and help of surveillance cameras they managed to uncover where jonathan had really gone and what had happened to him .
12 year old jonathan foster had been counting down the days to christmas with excitement for the first time in years.
his dream was coming true , he would spend the holiday with his mother angela davis had faced her share of struggles and hardships during jonathan’s early years.
from the age of six he had been cared for by his aunt and grandmother
and it wasn’t until he he was 11 that he was able to love woth his mother.
by then angela had turned her life around,she had moved into the home of her best friend sharon and was finally in a position to bring her son home.
jonathan was a kind and a thoughtful boy , allways willing to helo others with a cheerful heart.
despite the love and care he received from his extended family,jonathan deeply missed his mother and had a long dreamed of spending christmas with her .
angela worked as a casiher at a grocery store, that morning she gave jonathan her work number in case he needed to reach her .
reminded him not to open the door for anyone and left him at home alone as she headed out.
around 2.00 pm angelas workplace received a phone call from jonathan,her co-oworker told jonathan that they were super busy , she just couldnt come to the phone at that time.and he told her that it was an emergency
a few minutes later angela tired calling the home phone, but no one picked up.
worried she left work early and hurried home.
as she made her way back , angela kept calling jonathan’s number, but there were still no answer.
desperately clinging to hope she redialed over and over again .
at one point angela’s call was finally answered but instead of her son’s voice an unfamiliar woman came on the line, the stranger asked is angela your mom in a soft uncertain voice jonathan replied” yes ma’am, angela is my mom”
the women then spoke directly into the phone saying” you know your’e a terrible mother”
before angela could process what was happening the call abruptly ended.
those haunting words would strike fear into any mother’s heart.
overcome with panic and confusion angela rushed home desperate for answers ,but when she arrived jonathan was gone.
and the phone used by the mysterious woman had disappeared as well.
desperate and unsure of what to do angela turned to her ex-husband, david davis.
hwo had been joathan’s stepfather before the divorce, but david dismissed her concerns convinced that jonathan was just playing a prank and hiding somewhere .
relaxing at a bar with a beer he didn’t see the situation urgent and wasn’t eager to get involved.
he casually promised to come by later and hung up .
with no other opotions angela called the houston police departement to report jonathan missing
the officers swiftly gathered all the information they could from her .
and launched an investigation, by the time david eventually arrived he was also unable to find any trace of the boy .
when angela’s family and friends found out about jonathan’s dissapearance they immediately started reaching out to everyone they could thin of .
they printed flyers with jonathan’s picture, putting them up on street poles and handing them out to people on the street .
desperately they begged anyone they could find for help, what was meant to be a joyful christmas quickly turned into a nightmare for angela and her loved ones .
instead of enjoying a family holiday, they spent the day frantically searching for the missing boy
a search and rescue team specializing in missing persons cases in Texas joined the search for jonathan.
they construct a plan ,they mark off the Grid areas of where jonathan is missing , the possibilites of where he may be.
people are out there beating the bushes,turning over rocks,they doing everything they in the hopes of finding johnathan.
angela and david also turned to media for help,they did everything they could to find their son.
holding to the hope that thay would be able to bring their loved one back safe and sound
DECEMBER 27, 2010
on the third day after jonathan’s disappearance, his grandmother mary.
arrived with a potential lead, she mentioned the conflict between jonathan and his biological father richard forest
the detectives immediately focused on this new information deciding to find and investigate richard as they had no other leads at the time.
a search of the house revealed no signs of struggle and everything seemed in its place , exept for the home phone,it seemed possible the unknown women had taken it in her rush without thinking.
the detectives also needed to interview all of jonathan’s family members and keep them out of reach of persistent journalists, at least for a while
to do this david, angela, jonathan’s grandmother and sharon were taken to the police station ,after gathering all the available information at the crime scene.
the detectives began creating a deatailed description of the missing boy ,selecting photos and organizing a nationwide campaign to spread the information.
the goal wasto rally every possible resource top help up the search , the first person the investigators interviewed was mary, jonathan’s grandmother.
it was vital to gather any additional details she might have about jonathan’s biological father.
mary’s testimony helped shed a light on the complicated family dynamics and jonathans foster’s background.
however at that stage the authoritites didn’t find any evidence of illegal actions on richard’s part, so no charges were filed against him .
after hearing mary’s account , the police speculated that richard might have become furious upon learning that the boy had returned to angela and may have attempted to take him by force.
with this new lead the detectives intensified their search for richard foerest.
angela was next called in for questioning and the detective wasted no time asking about her second husband david davis.
angela explained that one day when she came home she saw bruises on jonathan’s body, alarmed she immediately took her son and moved in with a friend.
the investigators speculated that jonathan might have been causing tension with david and that in an effort to get rid of him
david could have taken the boy,this idea seemed entirely reasonable to the detectives.
at this stage the police had two primary suspects, angelas ex-husband,david and jonathan’s bological father richard foster .
the detectives needed to clarify what angela meant when she referred to the bruises.
as david provided a different account of the events.
during his questioning david eventualy ackowledge being aggressive toward jonathan, allthough he claimed the aggression was minimal.
the detectiv asked david to provide a deailed account of the events over the passt two weeks.
hopimg to piece together the timeline from his point of vew.
the next obvious question was here he had been on the day jonathan went missing, david gave a dlear description of his visist to jonathan and went on to explaine
that he later gone to a store to by a coffe grinder as achristmas gift.david’s interrogation lasted quite a while he was cooperative and gave hist estimony willingly but there was several inconsistentcies in his story whichraised suspecioions abotit the accuracy of his statements.
he clamed that he had gone to a store to buy a coffe grinder but when he couldn’t find it he said he stopped by a local bar for a bear .
however it was later revealed that the store had been closed that day so he couldn’t possibly gone there..as the interrogation continued the detective grew more convince that david davis somehow involved in the 12 year old boy’s dissaperantce.
to verify david’s alibi the investigation filed a request through the court to obtain data from the phone comapany including his location and call logs.
authorities also visited the local bar and discovered a security camera the fotage showed a man in a cap sitting in the bar drinking the video confirmed that david was indeed at the bar where he spent around 2 hours drinking several beers before leaving.
the investigation then shifthed to analyzing david’s movement data , ad well known mobilphone connect to specific cell towers each with a range of about 3 miles
the detectives were abele to confirm that throughout the time in question david had remained within this radius meaning he hadn’t gone far.
they were able t prove r that he was at the caddy corner bar during the phone calls angela makes he would be in there almost to about 3:30 and detecives had video and cell phone records to prove it.
this evidence showed that david wasn’t even close to angela’s house when johnathan disappeared and as a result all suspicions surrounding him was dismissed .
meanwhile nearly 184 from houston the police were able to track down jonathan’s biological father,however during this interrogation it came to light that richard had been out of town on the day jonathan disappeared, ruling him out as a suspect.
back in houston the questioning continue and this time angela’s friend sharon was brought in for interrogation
sharon explained that on the day she had run into her old friend mona and invited her to a holiday dinner , she asked mona to come early and wait for her to finish work.
sharon also mentioned that a 12 year old would be at the house and he probably wouldn’t let a stranger in , she instructed mona tell him that aunt sharon was aware and had given her permission to enter.
despite following these instructions,jonathan still didn’t open the door.so mona decided to return later.she said that they hhad known each other very well but they hadn’t seen each other in a long time.
detectives realize they eeded to find mona , she might be the last person to see jonathan foster.
on the fourth day after jonathan went missing the investigaton finally made a breakthrough .
the police received a call from a passer by who had been working next to a ditch in the houston area and discovered charred remains.
initially he thought they moght be the remains of animal but upon closer inspection , he realized the burnt remains were likely human.
a team of officesr quickly rushed to the scene, the shocking discovery was found beside a toll road ,inside a concrete drainage pipe.
the body is found along a toll road, in a concfrete covert halfway in halway out.
it’s a young male about the same age as jonathan, his been burned from head to toes.all blackened, the detectives began gathering evidence at the crime scene.
and found a rope that had been used to bind the victim’s wrists ,they also discovered some leaves stuck to the body which were sent for analysis along with the rope.
identifying the cause of death prvoed difficult due to the severe burns on the body
the burns were both direct and parallel indicating the use of a heathing pad it seemed
the killer had moved the heathing pad back and forth over the body until the flesh had been completely charred a bruise on the center of the chest seemed to be the result of a strong punch.
dental records confirmed that the charredremains belonged to
the missing 12 year old jonathan foster .
this devastating news struck his mother and all of his family members dippley losing a loved one is always painful but when the life of an innocent chils i staken the grief is even more unbearable.
jonathan’s body was discovered in a area close to an abandoned area surrounded byh warehouses a parking lot and a large green space.
about 50 yards away from the horrifying discovery,investigators noticed a surveillance camera on one of the buildings
the footage showed a silver pickup truck pulling up with a large man getting out of the vehicle.and climbing into the truck bed, he retrieved a container from the track and placed it next to the vehicle
soon after another car drow by and an unknown person seemingly try to stay unnoticed crouched down to to hide.
once the vehicle passed the the person stood up and walked toward the drainage pipe where jonathan’s body had been found.
the footage was dated at december 24 , 18 : 06: 45
just hours after jonathan foster was last seen alive
the detectives turned their focus to tracking down the silver truck and when they arrived at monas ouse sharon and a friend spotted a vehicle parked nearby.
it closely resembled the one captured in the footage, mona was subsequently brought in for questioning at the police station
mona nelson’s interview was voluntary , so she was free to leave at any time
she remained calm and realxed throughout the questioning, expressing that what had happened to the boy was treuly horrifying
mona also shared that she wored as a welder handling a wide range of jobs
this is when the investigation took an interesting turn as the detectives knew the perpetrator had used a torch during the crime .
after hearing about the acetylene torch ,several officers immedieately went to mona’s house, mona confirmed that she had indeed visisted sharon’s place that day .
but sharon hadn’t yet come come home from work.
the boy answered the door told her aunt sharon wasn’t home yet and then shut the door.
mona claimed she never entered the house and left right after ,never retruning.
she says that she’s been drinking with a guy named frank from about 2 :00 to 6:00 ,that’s about the window when all the events that surrounds jonathan would have papppened.
so she giving herself an alibi.
detectives strategy was to point out all of her lies to paint her as a liar.
ona denied any connection to the case ,firmly stating that she would never hurt a child even unintentionally, she insisted that if any thing unexpected had occured she would have contacted the proper authorities right away
mona also deniged speaking to angela, claiming she couldn’t ave had aconversation with the boys mother because she didn’t know her and didn’t have her phone number .
while the interrogation was ongoing one of the detectives spoke with frank who confirmed that mona had visited him and they had been drinking together,however he said she left his place at 2: 00 p.m
this contradicted mona’s alibi and she quickly became the prime suspect …….
another team of investigators arrived at her home and started to look for evidence, mona pointed them to the location of the acetylene tank and they foun it exactly where she had indicted
investigators found a burned capert in the trash bin
along with a broomstick that had a charred end.
and a gray sweatshirt beloning to jonathan .
they also discovered ta rope that appeared to be the same as the one used to bind the boys hands
the detectives observed the leaves in both the trash and the yard of mona’s home that closely resembled those stuck to the burned flesh,
these types of trees didn’t grow in the area where jonathan’s remains were found
and the nearest trees with similar leaves were about 6 miles away from the scene.
it’s hard to beleve but mona’s house was located 6,1 from the crime scene, the evidencecollected from her home clearly pointed to her as the murderer and abuser .
in light of the new evidence mona refused to answer any more question ,she suddenly became ill and started vomiting, rpmting the need for an ambulance, the detectives felt she was simply faking it
especially isnce the interrogation had focused on the brutal case of the 12 year old boy who had been from head to toe
yet mona showed no emotion , almost as if she had no heart with an empty vpid where her heart should have been
when mona was informed that the crime could lead to either the
death penalty or a life sentence without the possibility of parole,she didn’t even react.
her emotional level is flatline, there’s nothing there,nothing.
on august 12th 2013 mona nelson appeared before a jury for her trial , the key question was what happened to jonathan on christmas eve, shortly after the suspect arrived at sharon’s house.
the version of events that unfolded wasbacked by multiple evicence,
as you may reacall sharon had asked mona to come over cautioning her that a young boy named jonathan was at the house and wouldn’t let anyone in. she tolld mona to tell him that aunt sharon hadgiven her permission to enter .
little did sharon know what conswquences this would have.
jonathan refused tolet the unfamiliar woman in so mona asked him to reach out to someone wh ocould contact sharon, the boy caleld his mother’s work but angela was to busy to take the call when she finaly finished and tried callling jonathan back there was no answer, she immediatelly left work and rushed home but by then it was alll already too late .
that day mon had drank a lot of alcohol when she arrived at sharon’s house ,she was drunk angry and in a bad mood,her frustration intensified when jonathan refused to let her in, eventually she managed to get inside but likely because the boy opened the door for her.
at that moment angela called again,mona grabbed the phone from jonathan and accused angela of being a bad mother overcome with anger, mona struck jonathan in the chest and only then did she realize it was time to leave.
she took the child along with the home phone put gim in her car and drove back to her house where sge tied him up with a rope.
the exact cause of jonathan foster’s death remains unclear but its evident that mona nelson intended to mutilated is body with an acelylene torch.
detectives hope she chose another method to kill him, they don’t knwo if its the flames that did
but what a god awful evil act to burn his body back and forth and back and fourth.
to roll him over with a pokler and continue to burn him back and fourth.
aftgerward she got rid of the carpet where jonathan’s body had been throwing it into a trash bin along with the broomstick, his grey sweatshirth was also found there .
she then placed the burned remains in another trash container, loaded it into the back of her pickup truck and drove to the location where jonathan’s body was later found.
the key factor in this investigation was the CCTV footage showing mona andher pickup truck which allowed investigators to successfully close the case and secure a guilty verdict
mona nelson was found guilty of the brutal crime and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole-the true motive behind her action remains unknown.
the trial was a difficylt emotional ordeal for angela, the relatives and even some of the detectives involved, never theless, there was no doubt about the culprit responsible for this tragedy
it even more horrifying is that this occurred on christmas eve
a day that shouldhave been the happiest for jonathan instead it became a day of mourning for his entire family ……