By Claudia Grisales | Monday, April 12, 2010, 03:30 PM

Correction: This blog has been updated to give the correct spelling of the Soliz family.

Family members of a 5-year-old boy found dead Saturday may get answers as early as today from the medical examiner’s office as to why the child died.

A medical exam of the child’s body was under way this weekend following the discovery of Julian Soliz in a grassy spot located about two miles from the North Austin apartments, the Estates of Shoreline, at 3501 Shoreline Drive, where he initially went missing.

Officials said details on the cause of the death would not be released while the investigation was ongoing, but that it was being looked at as a homicide.

Meanwhile, the boy’s father Leonard Soliz, confirmed that the boy had internal injuries. He also said that his current girlfriend had been taking care of the boy for the past week. He said that she had been sleeping and when she woke up, the boy was gone and the door was unlocked.

Soliz declined to give the woman’s name or any other details of the case.

The child was discovered about three hours after he was reported missing in a nearby Wells Branch neighborhood.

Soliz and the boy’s mother, Jessica Salazar of Austin, expect to have private funeral services for their son Wednesday.

“He was a great boy,” said Solis, 21. “Everyone loved him. Everyone wanted to be with him. It wasn’t his time to go.”

“He was a lovable child; happy all the time,” said Salazar, 23.

Friends and family gathered at a salon in East Austin to raise money for the funeral. Workers at the benefit at Soila’s Hair Salon at 903 Montopolis Drive, said they were selling food all week to raise money.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Roger Wade said he would speak to investigators later today to get an update on the case. Detectives may get a sense of the boy’s cause of death today, Wade said.

The sheriff’s office is investigating the death after being called to the scene about 7 a.m. Saturday. The child had been missing since 5:30 a.m., and deputies were not called until nearly two hours later, officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies checked the area and were preparing to send an emergency broadcast to the neighborhood when a person discovered the body of a child near the intersection of Wells Port Drive and Wells Port Cove at 10:15 a.m., officials said.

Deputies verified it was the same child who was missing.

Detectives are asking the public for any information concerning Julian over the past few weeks. Anyone with information should call Detective Paul Salo at 854-3245, or Crime Stoppers at 472-8477.

Child Protective Services investigated the family five years ago, said Chris Van Deusen, spokesman with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

At that time, Julian was 3 months old and living with his father. When Salazar arrived at Soliz’s home to pick up the child, they got into an argument and started grabbing at the child, Van Deusen said. Julian received a cut.

No one was arrested in the incident, Van Deusen said. CPS found that there had been “neglectful supervision” of the child, but the case was closed because investigators believed it was a one-time thing and the parents realized their actions were wrong, he said.

“The child didn’t seem to be at risk of any future danger,” Van Deusen said. Since then, CPS has had no further involvement with the family.

Since Saturday, CPS has taken custody of two children who lived in the home with Soliz and his girlfriend: the couple’s infant son and the girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, Van Deusen said.

A memorial has been set up at the site where Julian was found. On Monday, neighbors said they were shocked by the news.

Kevin Stahnke, 42, a high-tech worker who owns the home where the boy’s body was found, said he was out of town but heard from a friend that police were at his home Saturday morning.

“It is a quiet neighborhood,” Stahnke said. “It’s an abberation, it’s a baby.”

Larry Miller, who lives across the street from where the boy was found, said he was out running errands Saturday morning when he came home to find police in front of his home.

“I was pretty upset,” Miller said, “I’ve been praying for the family.”

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/
04/12/family_of_dead_boy_may_get_ans.html

Emphasis added by H4K Editor