Horrifying act Arizona mom is accused of by her children's school - before vanishing without a trace
- Nubia Gonzalez is accused of stealing more than $35K from the middle school
- She has since disappeared - shutting down her phones and social media
An Arizona mother has been accused of committing a horrible offense at her children's school.
Scottsdale police say Nubia Gonzalez, who has four children in the city's school district, stole more than $35,000 from the Cocopah Association of Parents and Teachers - which raises money for school activities, field trips and other activities at Cocopah Middle School.
She had been elected treasurer of the APT in April, and was a well-liked mother who frequently volunteered in her children's classrooms, Fox 19 reports.
But she has since gone missing, as she stands accused of defrauding the school district so that she could transfer the funds from the volunteer group to her personal account.
Gonzalez was even caught on camera depositing the stolen funds into her bank account before she disappeared - shutting down her phones and social media accounts.
Police in Arizona are searching for Nubia Gonzalez, a mother of four, who is accused of stealing more than $35,000 from her children's middle school
Police say that shortly after the mother-of-four was elected treasurer of the APT, she began withdrawing funds that were turned over to the association.
The association's president then returned home from a trip on July 2, and noticed the account was empty, according to KTAR.
The bank then informed the president that several withdrawals - totaling $36,500 - had been made between June 28 and July 1.
Officers later discovered Gonzalez had used fraudulent documents and a fake home address when she signed onto the bank accounts, but when cops went to question her, she went missing.
'It was a false address she gave, not only to the police department, [Scottsdale Unified School District], everyone,' Scottsdale Police Sgt. Allison Sempsis told Fox 19. 'So we don't know where they were living at this point.'
Several parents, school employees and police officials have since tried to contact Gonzalez, but her phone numbers are no longer in service, KTAR reports.
Gonzalez was caught on surveillance footage depositing the stolen funds into her personal bank accounts
Police now suggest Gonzalez had planned to steal the money as soon as she was elected.
'That was her sole intent; she became treasurer in April, and as soon as she got access to bank accounts, she cleaned them out.'
Many parents of children at the middle school have since expressed shock and outrage at the mother's alleged actions.
'I have a finance background and accounting background, and it blows my mind that there's somebody who would do this, knowing they were taking these types of funds away from children,' Rebecca Ryerson said.
Tanya Roberts, another mother, called Gonzalez's alleged actions 'devastating.'
The parents are now worried about how they will replace the large sum of money, and are praying that families will see the importance of investing in their children's education as the school year starts.
'I want the people to feel like the community that we built is just as strong as it was 30 days ago, before we knew about this event,' Ryerson said.
'I hope they'll see our community in Cocopah and get behind our fall fundraiser.'
Parents and school officials at Cocopah Middle School now worry they will not be able to get back the funds
In a statement to parents, Scottsdale Unified School District officials also said they were 'disappointed to learn about the alleged theft involving the treasurer of the Cocopah Middle School APT.
'It is disheartening to think that someone would take advantage of the hard work and dedication of our parent groups.
'Our APTs, PTOs and Booster Clubs operate as separate nonprofit organizations, and we greatly appreciate their tireless efforts to support our students, staff and schools,' district officials continued.
'The core purpose of these groups is to enhance the educational experience for our students, and we are grateful for their unwavering commitment.
'We want to assure our community that this incident does not reflect the values and integrity of our many volunteers and community partners.
'We hope that this unfortunate situation will not deter our engaged community from continuing to serve and give in support of their children.'
