FORT MYERS, Fla. — On Tuesday morning, Fort Myers Police released new information about the 2006 cold case kidnapping of Bryan Dos Santos Gomes.
When the case made headlines more than 18 years ago, it was known as the Baby Bryan case.
Police and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children say this is what Bryan may look like now, that he's 18-years-old.
"We believe he's alive, he's out there," said Fort Myers Cold Case Detective Mike Iarossi. "It’s our hope that he sees the messages here, the video."
Fox 4 Senior Reporter Kaitlin Knapp has what you need to know about the case so you can help:
"I want Bryan back every day," his mom told NCMEC in an interview. "I tell God everyday, every day, please bring Bryan back to my house."
Here's the video the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released to try to draw new tips.
Watch Tuesday's entire news conference right here:
Police say on December 1, 2006, an unknown woman began following Bryan's mom, Maria, while she walked with her friend Janice, and her child.
The suspect pulled over and asked for directions to Pine Manor. The women got in the dark-colored SUV, possibly a Ford Explorer, with their children.
The woman said she was looking for her mother in Pine Manor and asked to borrow Janice's phone to make a call.
Fort Myers detectives released the call on Tuesday at the press conference, which was cleaned up and enhanced by the Secret Service. Speaking Spanish, the woman was asking about Pine Manor and Cleveland Avenue.
However, the call was actually a voicemail.
"It was a ruse phone call under the pretense that these two ladies in the car, Maria and Janice, would think she was being truthful that I have to go and find my mom," said Fort Myers Cold Case Detective Rich Harasym.
The call went to what is called a "pole shed." Detectives say people congregate there who are landscapers or irrigation specialists.
"We strongly believe there’s a strong connection between the female suspect and she knew that number at the pole shed," Iarossi said.
During the ride, the woman told Maria and Janice she had an 11-day-old boy named Jose Guadalupe.
Detectives strongly believe there's a connection to that name because someone with the same name lives next door to the pool shed.
When they couldn't find the woman's mom, which detectives say was likely not true, the woman drove them back to their neighborhood.
The woman forced Janice out of the car, but held Maria at knife-point.
"A boy was just stolen," Janice said to a 911 dispatcher in Spanish.
The suspect, detectives say, drove them to a church in Estero and Maria was forced out of the car.
"I stood in front of the car and cried," Maria said to NCMEC.
Since then, she has not seen her now 18-year-old son.
"If we get one lead from this presentation, then it was all worthwhile," Iarossi said.
They hope someone will recognize a man who looks like the age progression photo, with the goal of Bryan being found alive.
The age progression photo has been months in the making.
"We utilize manual compositing, digital painting and fine artistry techniques to start with an original photo for the long term missing child," said Colin McNally with NCMEC.
The imaging specialist will spend eight to 10 working hours to make the image in Photoshop. McNally says they do not use AI.
"We have to rely on family reference photos to be able to determine what he might look like," McNally said.
NCMEC has done more than 8,000 age progression photos since 1989 and around 1,700 children have been found alive because of them and the community.
"We recognize that Bryan is still very much possibly out there and we wanted to make sure this age progression was done as closely to what he looked like as possible," McNally said.
If you recognize the woman in the phone call or think you know someone who looks like the photo, call your local law enforcement agency or NCMEC at 1-800–THE–LOST (1-800–843–5678).
Detectives are moving forward with other potential leads. They have sent more DNA off to a lab for testing.
"Clothing articles, both sets of clothing articles from Maria and Janice Duarte, hoping for maybe a transfer of DNA from the vehicle," Iarossi said.
Fox 4 Senior Reporter Kaitlin Knapp sat down with detectives working the case in her Sunshine Crimes series in December 2024, about what happened next.
Watch to see what happened in 2006 and why detectives are hopeful they can still find Bryan alive:
