5-month-old found alive, mom found dead a week after they vanished, Indiana cops say
Update 7 p.m. Eastern time April 20: The death of 27-year-old mother Alexis Morales following her disappearance is now being investigated as a homicide, police in Indiana said.
An autopsy is scheduled for Friday, April 22, according to a Facebook post from the South Bend Police Department.
Her 5-month-old son, Messiah Morales, is in “stable condition” while at a hospital with other family members, police said.
The mom and son were found in an SUV together on April 19, but authorities have not yet determined how long they were in the parked vehicle before they were found.
Authorities say family members notified South Bend Police about their disappearance on April 18, the same day the Silver Alert was issued. They were last seen on April 12, one week prior to the Silver Alert.
“Posts circulating on social media that suggest our department was aware of the vehicle’s location prior to the discovery of Alexis and Messiah on Tuesday evening are untrue,” police said.
Original Story
One week after a mom and her 5-month-old son were last seen leaving a park in an SUV, they were found in the same SUV, but the woman was dead, authorities in Indiana say.
Alexis Morales, 27, was pronounced dead, but her son Messiah was found alive, according to the South Bend Police Department. The baby was not injured, but he was taken to a hospital for observation.
Police were called to check the SUV on April 19 after “possible sightings of a vehicle connected to a recent Silver Alert issued out of Elkhart County,” according to a Facebook post from the department.
The statewide Silver Alert was issued April 18, six days after Messiah was last seen with his mother, according to Indiana State Police.
The mom and son had attended a gathering at Kelly Park in South Bend on April 12, WNDU reported, before they disappeared.
Morales was seen driving away from the park in a silver 2006 BMW X5 SUV, according to the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office.
They were found in that vehicle about 10 minutes away from the park, according to WBND.
“Tough every time we have to deal with situations like ... tears your heart out, it really does,” South Bend Police Capt. Joe Leszczynski told WNDU.
In Indiana, a Silver Alert can be issued for missing endangered adults and children, high-risk missing people, and missing people with validated mental impairments. Law enforcement must recommend the alert, and “there must be enough descriptive information to believe the broadcast will help.”
It is not clear why authorities waited to issue a Silver Alert in this disappearance.
The South Bend Police Department has partnered with the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office in investigating Morales’ death.
Anyone with information is asked to call the South Bend Police Department Detective Bureau at 574-235-9263 or Michiana Crime Stoppers at 574-288-7867.
South Bend is about 150 miles north of Indianapolis.
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