Why Was A Dead Baby In This Couple’s Luggage?

Couple Arrested At Mexico Border Because Of What Was Found In Their LuggageA couple – John Lewis Hartley, 38, and Mercy Mary Becerra, 43 – in Whittier, California is facing murder and child cruelty charges after the body of a 2-year-old girl was found in their duffel bag, according to ABC 7.

On Tuesday, August 9, Hartley and Becerra were trying to cross the Mexico border on foot when they were stopped dead in their tracks after an x-ray machine detected something peculiar in a duffel bag Hartley was carrying.

When Mexican authorities searched the duffel bag, they discovered the body of a small child.

Hartley was arrested and “turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities, then to San Diego police homicide investigators.”

Becerra took off running after realizing Mexican authorities discovered the girl’s body inside the duffel bag, but she was apprehended a short while later.

The suspects, who are not the child’s parents, were charged with first-degree murder and child cruelty.

District Attorney Kurt Mechals says the child is being identified to the public as Jane Doe until they have “confirmed who it is.”

Mechals went on to say that:

…. Police officials “believe they know who it is, but until we’ve confirmed it, we’re going with Jane Doe as the identifying information.”

He added:

“San Diego police have been working around the clock since Wednesday.”

“It wasn’t until midway through the investigation that they realized that the case may have originated up in Whittier. It turns out that that does appear to be the case, and that’s when Whittier police was contacted and they swung into action.”

A medical examiner performed an autopsy on the child and determined that the cause of death was “residential drowning and malnutrition.”

It was not immediately made clear where the child was drowned, but the incident occurred not long before the child’s body was found in the duffel bag.

San Diego and Whitter police are investigating the incident.

If the Whittier couple is found guilty of murder and child cruelty, they could face 25 years in prison.

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