Police use infrared sensors to scour woods for 5-year-old

The mother of a 5-year-old who went missing while in the custody of his father made a renewed plea for her son's return yesterday, as police expanded their search with a helicopter equipped with infrared equipment over a wooded area in Lynn.

Daisy Colon spent yesterday posting missing person fliers throughout Lynn in hope that someone has seen her son, Giovanni Gonzalez, in the four days he has been missing or so that anyone who may have him in custody would have the sympathy to let him go.

"Giovanni, I miss you and I love you," a tired Colon said yesterday. "If you see him . . . please bring him back home. Let him go."

She urged anyone with information to call police, no matter how insignificant they believe their information may be.

"Just call," she said.

Colon said she has not heard anything new about the investigation, but that she is hopeful for the best.

"Right now, I'm just thinking, I'm just trying to stay positive," she said.

Colon last saw her son Friday, when she dropped him off at the Brightwood Terrace home of his father in Lynn. Colon had an unofficial agreement with the father, Ernesto L. Gonzalez Jr., that allowed him to see his son weekends, at least until a custody hearing could be held in September.

Colon returned to the father's home on Sunday to pick the boy up, and no one answered the door. Worried, she called police, who were able to make entry into Gonzalez's home.

There, police found Gonzalez, 36, in a bedroom. He had refused to answer the door. But when police entered, he told them he had not seen the boy or spoken with Colon since the previous weekend.

Police doubted Gonzalez's statements when they reviewed cellphone data that showed that Gonzalez had spoken to Colon for 19 minutes on Friday, the day she dropped off her son.

Gonzalez has been charged with child endangerment and was held on $500,000 cash bail after his arraignment Monday in Lynn District Court. But he has not cooperated with police, also refusing to explain a cut on his hand. Police fear the cut may be related to the disappearance of the boy.

Police have theorized that the boy could be in Puerto Rico, where Gonzalez has friends. But the focus has been in Lynn, where police have searched Gonzalez's home and scanned the neighborhood using police dogs. Yesterday, State Police sent a helicopter over the wooded area.

A Brightwood Terrace resident told police that he saw the father playing soccer with the boy Saturday and that Gonzalez was rude to his son. Police are asking anyone who may have seen the boy to contact investigators.

Giovanni was last seen wearing blue jeans, a red shirt, and Spider-Man sandals. He had a "Transformers" backpack with clothes and toys in it.