A missing Indiana mother was found dead in her car nearly a week after she and her five-month-old baby were reported missing.
There was evidence of violence on her, but no further details of what transpired.
27-year-old Alexis Morales and her five-month-old son Messiah were found by South Bend police inside her 2006 BMW X5 SUV on Tuesday, April 19.
The young mother was pronounced dead at the scene, while her son was alive, and taken to a nearby hospital for observation.
Morales and her son were first reported missing last week after they left a gathering and friends and family didn’t hear from her after that.
She told friends at a cookout that she was going home to feed her son, but never made it home.
An emergency alert was issued as her friends and family searched throughout the area for the young mother and son.
Later Tuesday night, police received a call from a neighbour about a vehicle near their home. When they arrived, police found Alexis dead inside, while her son was alive and seemingly untouched.
On Wednesday, April 20, police determined her death was a homicide after discovering visible injuries on her body, investigators said. It’s unclear what kind of injuries the mother sustained. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday, April 22.
Before she was found, Morales’ mother Sandra Piggie said in an interview with WNDU that it was unlike her daughter not to return home.
“This is un-normal. She would have called me at least or dropped the baby off to me if she wanted to go out and have more fun,” she said.
