( CNN ) -- Little Gabriel Johnson was 8-months-old when he was last spotted alive at a Texas motel in late 2009 . Almost three years later , his disappearance is still a mystery . And a trial that gets underway this week may finally provide some answers to what happened . Jury selection begins Wednesday in the trial of Gabriel 's mother , Elizabeth Johnson , who is charged with kidnapping , custodial interference and child abuse in the case . On December 17 , 2009 , a judge awarded Johnson and Logan McQueary , the boy 's father , joint custody of Gabriel . But Johnson allegedly defied the ruling and set out for Texas with her son . McQueary did n't hear from Johnson until several days later , when she reportedly sent him a text message saying she 'd killed Gabriel and put his body in a Dumpster . `` I killed him , '' Johnson said in a text to McQueary on December 27 , 2009 . `` U will never see Gabriel again , I made sure of that . And you can spend the rest of ur pathetic life wondering about him . '' The scathing series of texts continued . `` U will never find me im already bording a plane . Out of the country , '' Johnson said . `` When im safe ill email u the exact location of dead gabriels little blue body . If the garbage do n't come first . '' McQueary also recorded a phone call from Johnson in which she made similar claims . Johnson : `` You made me do this . '' McQuery : `` You did not hurt Gabriel . '' Johnson : `` Yes , I did . I suffocated him . ... . I suffocated him and he turned blue . And I put him in his diaper bag and I put him in the trash can . '' She later recanted her statements , CNN affiliate KPHO-TV reported . Johnson was arrested on December 30 , 2009 , in Miami Beach , Florida . She told police that she 'd given the boy to a unknown couple she met up with in San Antonio . She said she did so under the direction of a woman named Tammi Smith . Johnson and Smith had met in June 2009 , when both women were waiting for the same flight in the Indianapolis airport . Smith suggested to the young mother that she and her husband adopt Gabriel . Johnson said she called Smith that December to ask if the couple was still interested . This May , Smith was found guilty of forgery and conspiracy to interfere with Gabriel 's custody . In July , she was sentenced to probation and 30 days in jail . Smith 's conviction does not relate to the boy 's disappearance , but her efforts to conspire with Johnson to deny McQueary his rights to see his son . Jurors also accepted prosecutors ' argument that Smith falsely wrote the name of her cousin on a paternity document to falsely assert that he -- and not McQueary -- was Gabriel 's father . The defendant addressed the court at the time , admitting that she helped Johnson and helped care for Gabriel for nine days . Smith eventually apologized for any `` pain and suffering '' that helping Johnson may have caused , even as she firmly insisted that her intentions were good . `` I never intended to hurt anybody , '' Johnson said , adding that she just wanted to help a single mother who she felt was in need . `` I pray every day that Gabriel is alive and that he is found . ''
The then-8-month - old known as ` ` ' Jack '' disappeared in 2009 . The boy is still missing ; his mother faces rape and child abuse charges . She sends the boy 's father a series of spiteful letters saying she killed him . She later recants her statements .