Aja Johnson -- Found Deceased 3/29/10

Amber Alert Issued for 8 Year Old Oklahoma Girl
Posted: Monday, January 25, 2010 8:12 AM CT

The State of Oklahoma issued the Amber Alert Monday morning (1-25) after the girl was reportedly abducted by the suspect from her home in Geronimo late Sunday. The girl's mother was found dead in the home and the suspect is wanted for questioning in the woman's homicide. The suspect should be considered dangerous.

Aja Johnson, a white female, 8 years old, 4', 65 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She has a very thin build.

The suspect is Lester Hobbs, a white male, 47 years old, 5'9", 180 pounds with green eyes.

The suspect vehicle is a 1992 white Toyota Paseo with Oklahoma tag number 577BPW. The back window has been replaced with a piece of sheet metal.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Comanche County Sheriff's Office at 580-353-4280 or dial 911.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Girl may be with her mom's killer
http://www.whas11.com/news/AMBER-ALERT-Girl-may-be-with-her-moms-killer-82623697.html

(ABC News) - An Amber Alert has been issued for a 7-year-old girl who authorities believe may be with the man who is a person of interest in the murder of her mother this weekend.
Aja Johnson, described as a 65-pound, 4-foot tall young girl with brown eyes and brown hair, and was last seen Saturday evening at her Geronimo, Okla., home.
Her abduction is believed to have occurred sometime before 9 p.m. Sunday, when the body of her mother, 37-year-old Tonya Hobbs was found dead in her RV by authorities at the Comanche County Sheriff's Office.
Calls made to Comanche County Sheriff Kenny Stradley for comment regarding the case were not immediately returned, but a statement about the death of Tonya Hobbs was released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, which is helping with the investigation.
"Investigators do believe she was murdered," the statement said.
The cause of death is not yet known, according to the OSBI. The medical examiner's office is performing an autopsy on the body today.
The man who is a person of interest in Hobbs' death and who authorities believe may have now also kidnapped Aja is 46-year-old Lester Hobbs. Hobbs, who is not Aja's biological father, is estranged from the girl's mother and used to live with Tonya Hobbs in Davenport, Okla.
Aja and her mother were visiting Hobbs at his sister's home prior to the murder and disappearance, according to authorities.
Hobbs is driving a white 1992 Toyota Paseo with Oklahoma license plates that read 577-BPW. The back window of the two-door car has been replaced with a piece of sheet metal, according to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the vehicle has no hubcaps.
Person of Interest In Aja Johnson's Disappearance Is Believed to Be Dangerous
Hobbs is believed to be dangerous. Public records show that he served time in 2003 for assault with a deadly weapon.
Anyone with information about Aja is asked to contact the Comanche County Sheriff's Office at 580-353-4280.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



http://www.wane.com/dpps/news/national/south/oklahoma-mom-dead-girl-missing-man-sought-jgr_3201585

Mom dead; girl missing; man sought
Mom's body found, Amber alert issued for daughter

Updated: Monday, 25 Jan 2010, 2:06 PM EST
Published : Monday, 25 Jan 2010, 2:04 PM EST

* SEAN MURPHY,Associated Press Writer

A mother's body was found inside a camper in Oklahoma and authorities have issued an Amber alert for her missing 7-year-old daughter.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said Monday that the girl, Aja Daniell Johnson, is believed to be with Lester William Hobbs. Brown says he is an ex-convict wanted for questioning in the woman's death.

Brown says Lester William Hobbs is the estranged husband of Tonya Hobbs, whose body was discovered inside a recreational vehicle late Sunday in Geronimo. Brown says the last time Lester Hobbs and the girl were seen was Saturday evening.

Lester Hobbs was last seen driving a 1992 Toyota Paseo with the Oklahoma license plate number 577-BPW.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Amber-Alert-Issued-For-Missing-8-Year-Old/2oMs3qWJX02UVHSpSMVpcQ.cspx

GERONIMO, Okla. (AP) — An Amber alert has been issued for a missing 8-year-old girl whose mother was found dead inside a home in Geronimo.

The Comanche County Sheriff's Office is searching for 7-year-old Aja (ASIA) Johnson, who is believed to be with a man wanted for questioning in the woman's death.

Authorities say 47-year-old Lester Hobbs is driving a 1992 Toyota Paseo with the Oklahoma license plate number 577-BPW. The car has no hub caps and plastic covers the rear window.

Comanche County records technician Gina Clark says Hobbs may be headed toward Davenport, Okla. Clark says Hobbs is not the girl's father.

The body of the missing girl's mother was found by deputies about 9 p.m. Sunday. Her name and cause of death weren't immediately released.

I hope Aja is found safe. She must be terrified being held by the man who murdered her mother.

Does she know her mother is dead? Did she witness it?

Please let this child be ok!!!! I have a bad feeling about this one. He would have nothing to lose by killing her and she would slow him down. I'm very scared for this little girl.

I truly fear for Aja. I agree with you, Dis. Especially if she witnessed him killing her mother. And what was her mother thinking? She was only to have supervised visits with Aja anyway and Aja was not to be in the presence of Lester Hobbs.

AMBER ALERT: Aja Johnson, 7-year old girl, Geronimo, Oklahoma – Updated 02/15/10

Posted on February 15th, 2010 by Valhall

My apologies for the delay in updating this still active and very important search for Aja. On February 4th it was announced that the U.S. Marshal’s Service added its Sex Offender Investigation Unit to the search for little Aja Johnson. This decision was made after they received information leading them to believe Hobbs could be sexually abusing Aja. While this is a horrific thing to imagine, it also leaves hope that little Aja COULD be held some where and not yet murdered.

On the heels of this decision, the U.S. Marshal’s office moved it’s $1.3 million command center to Geronimo, Oklahoma, the last place Aja is known to have been before the murder of her mother, Tonya, and the disappearance of Lester Hobbs and Aja. This unit is capable of linking up real-time with multiple sources of information so that investigators assigned to this case can receive updated information as it occurs.

Read the rest:
http://www.thehinkymeter.com/?p=1534

Agent: Okla. girl may have witnessed mom’s slaying

February 26, 2010

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma man may have used a hammer to beat his wife to death and her 7-year-old daughter — who is missing — might have witnessed the attack, a detective said Thursday.

Comanche County authorities have charged Lester Hobbs, 46, with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of 37-year-old Tonya Hobbs and the disappearance of her daughter, Aja Johnson.

Tonya Hobbs’ body was discovered Jan. 24 inside her husband’s motor home in Geronimo, about 100 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The Medical Examiner’s Office said Tonya Hobbs suffered blunt force trauma.

Lester Hobbs and the missing girl, who is not his biological daughter, were last seen by relatives the night before.

Richard Goss, agent in charge of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation’s Southwest Regional Office, said Hobbs may have used a hammer to kill his wife.

She had filed a protective order just months before she was murdered that said her husband had threatened to kill her children with a hammer.

Investigators believe Aja, who suffers from bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and sleeping issues that require medication, likely witnessed her mother’s slaying, Goss said.

Goss said law enforcement authorities had conducted hundreds of interviews during an extensive search for Hobbs and the girl in Oklahoma and Texas, where Hobbs previously lived. He said authorities had found no trace of Hobbs, the girl or the 1992 Toyota Paseo he is believed to be driving.

“We’re looking everywhere,” Goss said. He said there was no evidence that the girl has been harmed.

http://normantranscript.com/headlines/x568428748/Agent-Okla-girl-may-have-witnessed-mom-s-slaying

NEW PIC RELEASED TOO!

It's been a month and still not even ONE siting. How sad. He's even KNOWN to abuse this child.

Is is very disturbing that Aja may have witnessed Hobbs murdering her mother. Hobbs is a despicable human being who deserves no mercy.

I don't even want to imagine how he is treating Aja if she is still alive.

I cant see that this monster still has her...

I find sometimes find myself wondering if Aja, would be lu .. I cant even say it...

Aja's dad mentioned she needs medication.

I musty have must the explantion...
Such a sad story ..

Family members have said he hated Aja. She was bruised so bad from one beating she couldn't even sit down. AJ, I agree with you. I don't believe Aja is still with us. God only knows what he has put this child through. If he has kept her alive, I can't even imagine the torture he has inflicted upon this little girl. I'm sorry the mother was killed, but she knew what Hobbs had done to her and Aja was not to be around him. Why wasn't this man arrested for beating this child when these orders were put in place?

Pretty much a repeat of the above info.

http://newsok.com/release-aja-oklahoma-police-officials-say/article/3442287

One of the news channels were talking about how he made Aja eat Jalepeno peppers by the mouth full! What a freak. I pray she's alive but you know, I hate to say this, but sometimes it's almost better that she not be. (I don't mean that literally..I think you all know what I mean)

I can't imagine what he would do to her the first time she cried or had a nightmare of what he did to her mommy. It's almost unthinkable.

And yet the Mom stayed with him? She had to have known some of these horror stories.

‘Release Aja,’ Oklahoma police officials say
Girl’s suspected abductor described as drifter who can live in society’s shadows

BY RON JACKSON The Oklahoman
Published: February 26, 2010

LAWTON — Lester William Hobbs, the suspected abductor of 7-year-old Aja Johnson, is a man who can survive in the shadows of society, investigators said during a Thursday news conference.


Lester Hobbs is a person of interest in an Amber Alert for Aja Johnson. PHOTO PROVIDED

Investigators said they have uncovered a portrait of a drifter who can hustle money in pool halls, work on cars and sustain himself on pocket change. Now, more than a month after Aja’s disappearance, they are again asking for the public’s help.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent in Charge Richard Goss had a message for Hobbs, who is charged with Aja’s kidnapping and the Jan. 24 killing of his estranged wife and Aja’s mother, Tonya LeAnn Hobbs.

"Release Aja now,” Goss read from a statement. "Drop her off at a Target, a Walmart, a K-Mart — any busy store where she will be safe. Attach a note to her clothing simply stating: ‘Call police — Amber Alert — Aja Johnson.’”

Then Goss added, "For once in your life, do the right thing.”

State and federal investigators said they have immersed themselves in Hobbs’ world, starting with the Geronimo homicide scene inside his recreational vehicle.

Goss revealed that investigators think Tonya was beaten to death with a hammer and that Aja likely witnessed the killing "lying by her mother’s side on a sofa.”

The U.S. Marshals Service and FBI have joined the manhunt in a case that reached the national stage with a segment on "America’s Most Wanted.”

Goss said his team has not received any concrete leads on Aja, Lester Hobbs or Tonya Hobbs’ 1992 Toyota Paseo, which they think Lester Hobbs was driving when he left.

"Hobbs can survive on very little money — 20 bucks here, 20 bucks there,” Goss said. "In fact, his needs seem to be met with only cigarettes, liquor, and very little food. He is a self-taught automobile mechanic and will offer to do minor repairs for little money.

"He likes to cruise the Internet searching for lonely women. If Hobbs no longer has a vehicle, he will travel across the country by bus, or will hitchhike.”

U.S. Deputy Marshal A.D. Templeton likened Hobbs to a coyote.

"A coyote will run quickly across the road, continue on for another 20 yards into a field, and then lay down until the danger passes,” Templeton said. "Lester Hobbs is really no different. At first he quickly made his escape in the middle of the night, and now he’s laying low. He’s probably traveling by night like a scavenger, moving from point to point.

"I’ve hunted for individuals from one end of this country to the other. Sometimes, we find people in a few days. Sometimes, it takes 15 years. But we always find those people.”

Goss said Lester Hobbs’ relatives described him as a "cowardly abuser who preys on women and children.” He said Hobbs appears to have no friends, but he suspects someone is harboring him.

"To that person or persons, I implore you to do the right thing and do it now before it’s too late. Hobbs is only using you,” Goss said. "Call your nearest law enforcement agency immediately. If you do not, the consequences could be severe.”

Investigators said Hobbs likes to change his appearance with the use of hair dyes and hair growth, but there are two physical characteristics he can’t easily hide: tattoos and a broken nose.

Hobbs has the word "ROSE” tattooed across the fingers of his right hand and "LOVE” tattooed across the fingers of his left hand.

http://newsok.com/release-aja-oklahoma-police-officials-say/article/3442287

Poor kid....

Valhall has been following this story and I doubt too that she is still with us. I shudder to think of the horror she went through. I get what you are saying Fysty, and I agree. Amazingly though if she does survive, she has probably developed coping skills to help her get through.

If she is alive somewhere I pray that God will lead someone to her.

i still can't believe this creep has been able to elude LE for this long....

Why would LE state so clearly "that Aja likely witnessed the killing "lying by her mother’s side on a sofa.”

I'm thinking there was a void area of blood spatter that indicated that Aja was lying in that spot witnessing her mothers murder - that's JMO - but how else could they know that?? It's a very specific detail - and we know that if he beat her to death with a hammer that there would be high velocity blood spatter all over that trailer...
I can't even imagine either Aja still being with that man and what she must be enduring or the alternative - what she could have endured before her death. although, I imagine it's far fetched to even hope in this case that she might still be alive - many ppl claim how he "hated" this child - now she just witnessed her mothers death - I don't think he would risk her escaping or telling on him. Also, he would be more recognizable if he was travelling with a young girl as opposed to travelling alone... he's scum - i hope they catch him soon. I still hold out hope that like Dis said, she is utilizing the coping mechanism to survive that even before her mother died, she no doubt had to develop just to stay alive. Her mother certainly didn't do anything to keep her child out of harm's way... back to the choose your partner campaign... just another wicked example...