The mother of the 1-year-old girl whose remains were found in a drawer in an abandoned house in Morgantown, Indiana, as well as her boyfriend, face charges in the girl’s death.
Oaklee Snow disappeared at the beginning of the year.
Madison Marshall and Roan Waters allegedly abducted Oaklee and her younger brother from their father’s Oklahoma home on January 19.
Authorities allege the couple abandoned Oaklee’s baby brother at a drug lab where relatives picked him up. Family members reported the situation to the Indiana Department of Children’s Services.
A witness allegedly saw the couple leaving the drug hospital with what appeared to be a baby wrapped in a sheet, reveal documents from the case cited by FOX 59.
The person said the boy did not appear to be moving or crying.
At the start of the investigation, agents believed Marshall and Waters disposed of the body somewhere in Indiana.
Later, the mother told the police that her boyfriend killed the little girl and hid her body in the dresser of an uninhabited house.
It will take between two to four weeks to confirm that the recovered remains are from the baby due to the advanced state of decomposition. However, researchers support the theory that it is the minor, who would have been subjected to brutal abuse by the man.
Charges were filed against the suspects on Wednesday. Marshall faces charges of neglect of a clerk that resulted in his death and neglect of a clerk that resulted in serious injury, among others. While the man was charged with murder and negligence resulting in death, among others.
Marion County Attorney Ryan Mears, the official leading the case, revealed that the victim was subjected to abuse for several days.
“This was not an isolated incident. The probable cause complaint indicates that there was abuse in Oklahoma, Colorado and Indianapolis. This baby suffered for a significant period of time and on February 9 the culmination of that abuse led Oaklee to tragically lose her life,” the prosecutor stated.
Marshall allegedly told officers how Waters frequently abused and beat Oaklee; he even strangled her on one occasion. According to her mother’s account, her boyfriend hit her for things as simple as her wrong grip on her fork. It is not clear why the woman did not stop the abuse in time or report it.