U.S. Marshals Recover 2 Missing Children, Arrest Father

New Haven, CT - The Connecticut and Massachusetts U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force, assisted by the Massachusetts State Police VFAS unit, Springfield Police Department, Hamden County Sheriff’s office, and Massachusetts Department of Child and Family Services, today recovered two missing children in Springfield, Massachusetts, and arrested their noncustodial father.

Both children were reunited with family members.

Luis Gonzalez-Fontanez was taken into custody and transported to the Springfield Police Department and charged as a fugitive from justice. He will be returned to Puerto Rico and charged with violation of Penal Code Article 121(B), Unlawful Deprivation of Custody. 

The Puerto Rico Police Department contacted the U.S. Marshals office in Puerto Rico Oct. 10, requesting assistance in locating two missing children who were believed to be with their father, who was a fugitive. The children had been reported missing June 6, 2021, when they did not return from a visitation with Gonzalez-Fontanez.

U.S. Marshals investigators developed information that Gonzalez-Fontanez had fled Puerto Rico, traveled to Hartford and then to a Tyler Street residence in Springfield where the children were recovered and Gonzalez-Fontanez arrested.  

Since the inception of the U.S. Marshals – Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force in 1999, these partnerships have resulted in over 11,046 arrests (Updated as of 9/08/2022). The task force’s objective is to seek out and arrest violent fugitives and sexual predators. Membership agencies include Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Waterbury Police Departments. These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 8 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.