This Feels Criminal: A True Crime Podcast (Formerly Killer Queens)

Castle Rock v. Gonzales: She Had a Restraining Order. Police Told Her to Wait. | Part 1

September 15, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

On the night of June 22, 1999, Jessica Gonzalez drove to the Castle Rock, Colorado police station after hours of trying to get help. Her three daughters—ages 10, 9, and 7—had been missing since early evening, and she believed they were with her estranged husband Simon, against whom she held a permanent restraining order. She had already called the police repeatedly. Now she was going there in person. By her account, she would have contact with law enforcement nine separate times over roughly ten hours that night. No officer ever acted.

The story of Castle Rock v. Gonzales begins weeks earlier. Jessica Gonzalez, a Latina and Native American woman from Pueblo, Colorado, married Simon Gonzalez in 1990. They had three daughters—Rebecca, Catherine, and Leslie—plus Jessica’s son Jesse from a previous relationship. By 1999, Simon’s behavior had escalated for years. Jessica described him as controlling, unpredictable, and violent. He had threatened to kidnap the children. He had been hospitalized after a suicide attempt in 1996; a second attempt may have occurred in January 1997. Police filed an emergency mental health report on June 16, 1999—just six days before the abduction. There was a road rage citation from April 1999, with the girls unbelted in the truck’s jump seats. Simon had also been caught trespassing in a restricted section of the Castle Rock Police Station itself.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:52) **Jessica Gonzalez Calls the Police** - A mother reports her three daughters missing, believing they are with her estranged husband despite a restraining order, and the police fail to respond effectively.
2 (15:01) **Simon Abducts the Daughters** - Simon takes the three girls and a friend from the front yard on June 22, 1999, without pre-arrangement, violating the restraining order.
3 (24:18) **Jessica Tracks Simon to an Amusement Park** - Jessica reaches Simon on his cell phone, learns he is in Denver with the girls, but police refuse to act due to jurisdiction.
4 (28:05) **Parallel to Gabby Petito Case** - The hosts draw a comparison to the Gabby Petito case, where police failed to act on a domestic violence incident despite legal requirements.
5 (34:21) **The Threshold for Police Action** - The hosts question why police prioritize unknown threats over known, documented risks like Jessica’s case.
6 (43:43) **Defending Police Inaction** - The hosts offer a partial defense of police, citing systemic issues like training and funding.
7 (48:18) **Jessica’s Repeated Violations Ignored** - Simon violates the restraining order multiple times, and Jessica’s calls for help are ignored or dismissed.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Jessica Gonzales did everything the system told her to do. She got a restraining order against her estranged husband. Colorado law said police had to enforce it — the word "shall" was written right into the statute.

So when her three daughters went missing on the night of June 22, 1999, Jessica called Castle Rock police. And called them again. And again — nine times over the course of ten hours, showing officers the order and telling them exactly where her husband was. Each time, she was told to wait.

This episode kicks off a new Question Arc: if we can recognize danger before it becomes deadly, why don't we act on it?

Jessica's case is where we're starting — not with the Supreme Court decision that would eventually make Castle Rock v. Gonzales a landmark case, but with the night itself, hour by hour, exactly as she lived it.

We're holding the rest for Part 2. Because before we ask what the law required police to do, you need to understand what they actually did.

TW: Child Murder

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