The newborn baby who was allegedly abandoned on an Iowa highway by his mother and grandfather was still alive when they disposed of the body, according to case documents reported this week by some media.
Megan Staude, 25, gave birth to the baby at her home in Norwalk in late February, according to the criminal complaint. The investigation of the facts shows that the father of the woman and grandfather of the child, Rodney Staude, 64, helped the woman dispose of the little body.
Investigators indicated in the case file that the mother offered contradictory versions to the authorities about the death of the child.
In interviews on March 8 and 9, the woman alleged that the baby died on the way to the hospital and that she was instructed to take the child home and bury him.
However, on March 13, he told officials that on February 24, the day the infant was born, he placed it in a box. He added that the baby cried from time to time for two days, and that in that period of time, he did not provide care.
The woman also recounted that, on February 26, together with her father, she placed the child in a garbage bag. On that date, the victim was still alive. As she confessed, the baby was alive for several minutes before it stopped moving.
The defendant added that, with the help of her father, she abandoned the newborn in a ditch on the outskirts of Norwalk.
The results of the autopsy on the child’s body have not yet been released.
Father and daughter face first degree murder charges.
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