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Bond for Chesterfield doctor upsets family of his missing girlfriend

Posted at 4:02 PM, Feb 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-29 16:13:03-05

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Dr. John Gibbs, 38, was granted bond Monday and released from custody in Chesterfield. Gibbs was charged with child neglect after police said he left his five-year-old son alone on more than one occasion. The child’s mother, Zulma Pabon, has not been seen since 2014. Gibbs was questioned about Pabon’s disappearance, but never charged with a crime.

Zulma Pabon

Zulma Pabon

As a condition of his $2,500 bond, Gibbs cannot have contact with either of his two children. He must also surrender his passport and cannot leave Virginia. Gibbs will be monitored by a GPS monitor while out on bond.

John Gibbs (PHOTO: Chesterfield Police)

John Gibbs (PHOTO: Chesterfield Police)

The judge’s ruling to grant bond upset Pabon’s sister, who cares for the child one week of every month.

“I honestly think he needs to stay in jail,” Yalitza Soba said after the hearing. “Things will work out. Of course I’m not happy, but I can’t fight against certain things. All I can do is be there for my nephew.”

Yalitza Soba

Gibbs’ attorney Debra Corcoran said she was disturbed considering her client’s liberties had been taken and, she said, he had done nothing wrong.

“What this man is charged with is just egregious. I can’t believe the Commonwealth would go that far as to charge this man with these particular charges,” Corcoran said. “They have put the spotlight on him for well over two years and they haven’t been able to come up with anything. I think they want their pound of flesh.”

Debra Concoran

Gibbs is accused of leaving his five-year-old son unattended on two occasions; once in January and the other in February. The first incident the boy was found alone near his residence complex pool and police were called.

Gibbs older son, who is 15 and described as extremely autistic, was supposed to be watching the younger brother. The next incident the youngest son was left at home alone while Gibbs attended a parent-teacher conference.

Zulma Pabon

Zulma Pabon

Pabon, described as a Hispanic female, is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 145 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen Friday, June 6, 2014,  when she left work at St. Francis Medical Center, where she was a nurse. Co-workers reported Pabon missing when she failed to show up for work on Monday, June 9. Her boyfriend Gibbs did not report her missing.

Pabon’s Nissan was located about 10 days after her disappearance, in the Greenleigh Mobile Home Park off Jeff Davis Highway, some 16 miles from Pabon’s Midlothian home on Terrace Arbor Circle.

Surveillance showed a wrecker picking up the car

Surveillance showed a wrecker picking up the car

Surveillance cameras captured images of a white, newer-model four-door truck towing a white, four-door vehicle on Commonwealth Center Parkway at about 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 7. Police asked the driver of that truck to contact them immediately, but never released any information about it.

Gibbs was seen returning to their Terrace Arbor Circle home about 6:39 a.m. the morning of Saturday, June 7, according to police. He was alone. Pabon’s white 2009 Nissan Altima was seen leaving the home the couple shared about 15 minutes before Gibbs was captured on a neighbor’s security camera returning to the house.

Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 6:13pm 5400 Block Commonwealth Centre PKWY

Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 6:13pm 5400 Block Commonwealth Centre PKWY

Pabon’s sister previously said that there was no way Pabon would leave without taking her son. Chesterfield Police said there was no history of domestic violence calls at the address, nor any indication Pabon had ever disappeared before.

Police have also previously said that Gibbs did not cooperate with the investigation, detectives said. They added that was his Constitutional right.

For all background stories and updates, click here.

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