I had a very similar thing happen during the beta test, but my builder didn't disappear (she just got stuck on the scaffold and showed 'held' forever - even though I wasn't 'holding' her). I wonder if they're related.

I had a builder disapear. I dragged her to the top of the stone. She showed "held" until I selected another villager. Now she is gone. I have level 2 medicine, level 2 Fertility and level 2 science. Other three are level 3.

I also think I dismissed the Golden child box and I didn't even click the "ok".I clicked somewhere on the screen. It happened so fast I couldn't read it. Then got a notice I had reached another milestone of population.

I'm now maxed out on all the techs and the idol is complete - and even though I'm trying to lose villagers here, it's not working. Seems to be a bug before or during construction but not after? Anonymous and I also had the same tech levels when it happened.

We've had reports of lost villagers even after the carving is completed, so I'm not sure that it's related to the stage of construction. The boulder might also be a 'bad place' - villagers have been lost there, too.

tigger, the golden child appears when he or she is ready to. What (s)he does is also up to him/her. You cannot make him/her do anything

If you are worried about losing them once they appear, try making a backup of the game and then you can try again if you need to

ok- great! Thanks for the advice!

Tigger, the GC will not be born if you are at the max population. The GC has to be 'conceived' like a normal child (it doesn't just 'show up'), and that can't happen if you can't make any more babies. After your population goes down (graveyard time), your villagers can make more babies.

I figured that...
I have one villager nursing right now.... could that be the GC or do you know the moment he/she is conceived?

I'm almost 100% positive that the GC message happens when the child is produced, not after the mom finishes nursing. The GC is, after all, special!