By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
CASSVILLE, Mo. — A 16-year-old girl, believed to have given birth last week to a baby who was found dead in a shopping bag in her bedroom closet, was taken into custody Tuesday by Barry County juvenile officers.
Investigators have yet to determine what caused the premature infant’s death. But an autopsy Saturday found air in the baby’s lungs, indicating that she had not been stillborn.
The mother of the infant was admitted Thursday night to a hospital in Bentonville, Ark., with excessive bleeding from a reported miscarriage. But an attending doctor notified Bentonville police that there were signs the teen may have given live birth to a child.
The Barry County Sheriff’s Department found a dead baby girl Friday morning in a plastic shopping bag in a bedroom closet of the teen’s home on the edge of Seligman.
The mother, who underwent surgery, was released Saturday from the hospital in Arkansas, according to Barry County Sheriff Mick Epperly. Investigators had been seeking an interview with her on Monday after she met with an attorney who had been appointed for her.
Epperly did not indicate Tuesday whether that interview had taken place before juvenile officers detained the girl Tuesday morning. But he said the case is being treated as a homicide.
“She was taken into custody by juvenile authorities and was placed in detention,” Epperly told the Globe.
The girl had not been charged with a crime by noon Tuesday, according to Keith Paris, chief juvenile officer in Barry County.
“We’re still pending investigation on that,” Paris said.
He said the girl was being detained on a 72-hour hold while the investigation continues.
The girl’s 18-year-old sister reportedly told investigators that she found blood in the hallway and bathroom of the family’s home when she arrived there about 4 p.m. Thursday. She acknowledged having helped her younger sister mop up the blood with towels but denied knowledge of any live birth having taken place at the time. The sheriff said the older sister told investigators that she believed her sister was having a miscarriage.
The girls’ mother took the younger one to the hospital in Cassville when she arrived home about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the sheriff. The teen was transferred to the Arkansas hospital by ambulance.
The sheriff said Monday that investigators found no obvious signs of blunt-force trauma, strangulation or suffocation to explain the baby’s death. But he said Tuesday that investigators still hope to determine the cause of death.
He said the investigation may have to wait on a full autopsy report.
Investigators reportedly found bloody towels in the home and blood on a wall of the girl’s bedroom, where the baby was found.
Autopsy findings
The preliminary findings of the autopsy indicated a live birth with subsequent death.
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