Girl, father arrested in death of newborn
PORT ANGELES, Wash. - A teenage girl and her father were arrested for investigation into the death of the girl's newborn baby and the dumping of its body, police say.
Now police are preparing to sift through 60 tons of trash for the little corpse of the infant they say was killed.
The teenage girl, who was not identified because she is a minor, was arrested for investigation of first-degree murder on Friday.
Her 41-year-old father, who has a criminal record, also was arrested on Friday for investigation of concealing a birth by allegedly disposing the body of the deceased newborn.
Police say the little body was dumped in a city garbage container behind their home at 116 E. 12th St. in Port Angeles.
A body has not been found, and authorities are making arrangements to search for it in Port Angeles trash taken to a facility in Tacoma.
"It's an absolute tragedy," said Port Angeles Police Chief Terry Gallagher. "We have apparently a dead child, sadly, and the 16-year-old in some sense is a victim herself."
Roommates who live in the home with the girl and her father said they had no idea the girl was even pregnant. But they did know something was terribly wrong on Monday, the night before she gave birth.
"The last night she was whining and whimpering all night," says family friend Richard Priest.
The father and daughter have not been formally charged.
The girl is being held at the Clallam Youth Center, and her father is in the Clallam County jail.
Court records show that the girl's father has a criminal record that includes convictions for second-degree burglary, illegal possession of a firearm and fourth-degree assault. His most recent sentencing, in 2003, was for delivery of methamphetamine.
Police say the baby died soon after it was born at about 3 a.m. Tuesday at the home.
Gallagher said police don't know the details, but that they "have probable cause to believe that she (the girl) bears responsibility on the death."
He said that police believe that a newborn died after birth and was disposed of because of evidence found at the home, and also because of information provided by the people who notified authorities.
Gallagher declined to elaborate on what kind of evidence was found, except that blood was involved.
Priest described the scene this way: "It was ugly, seriously ugly, when we woke up in the morning and saw the aftermath."
Garbage from the city bin near the home, where police think the newborn's body was placed, was collected on Wednesday, and has since been transported to a waste facility in Tacoma, he said.
Officials have identified two 30-ton garbage containers that they are "very certain" contain the garbage that was picked up on Port Angeles streets on Wednesday, Gallagher said.
Police are working with local waste officials and Pierce County authorities to have those containers transported to another garbage facility in Graham, southeast of Tacoma, so that they can be searched for an infant's body, he said.
Gallagher said the girl recently had moved in October from Colorado, where she lived with her mother, to stay with her father.
Investigators, acting on a search warrant, also found what they initially thought was a pipe bomb in the garage at the residence on Saturday. The State Patrol bomb squad placed it in a bomb-disposal vehicle while the homes on either side were evacuated.
The device later was identified as a container for smuggling drugs.
This story contains information first reported in the Peninsula Daily News, a media partner of KOMO News. To read the original Daily news story, click here.
Now police are preparing to sift through 60 tons of trash for the little corpse of the infant they say was killed.
The teenage girl, who was not identified because she is a minor, was arrested for investigation of first-degree murder on Friday.
Her 41-year-old father, who has a criminal record, also was arrested on Friday for investigation of concealing a birth by allegedly disposing the body of the deceased newborn.
Police say the little body was dumped in a city garbage container behind their home at 116 E. 12th St. in Port Angeles.
A body has not been found, and authorities are making arrangements to search for it in Port Angeles trash taken to a facility in Tacoma.
"It's an absolute tragedy," said Port Angeles Police Chief Terry Gallagher. "We have apparently a dead child, sadly, and the 16-year-old in some sense is a victim herself."
Roommates who live in the home with the girl and her father said they had no idea the girl was even pregnant. But they did know something was terribly wrong on Monday, the night before she gave birth.
"The last night she was whining and whimpering all night," says family friend Richard Priest.
The father and daughter have not been formally charged.
The girl is being held at the Clallam Youth Center, and her father is in the Clallam County jail.
Court records show that the girl's father has a criminal record that includes convictions for second-degree burglary, illegal possession of a firearm and fourth-degree assault. His most recent sentencing, in 2003, was for delivery of methamphetamine.
Police say the baby died soon after it was born at about 3 a.m. Tuesday at the home.
Gallagher said police don't know the details, but that they "have probable cause to believe that she (the girl) bears responsibility on the death."
He said that police believe that a newborn died after birth and was disposed of because of evidence found at the home, and also because of information provided by the people who notified authorities.
Gallagher declined to elaborate on what kind of evidence was found, except that blood was involved.
Priest described the scene this way: "It was ugly, seriously ugly, when we woke up in the morning and saw the aftermath."
Garbage from the city bin near the home, where police think the newborn's body was placed, was collected on Wednesday, and has since been transported to a waste facility in Tacoma, he said.
Officials have identified two 30-ton garbage containers that they are "very certain" contain the garbage that was picked up on Port Angeles streets on Wednesday, Gallagher said.
Police are working with local waste officials and Pierce County authorities to have those containers transported to another garbage facility in Graham, southeast of Tacoma, so that they can be searched for an infant's body, he said.
Gallagher said the girl recently had moved in October from Colorado, where she lived with her mother, to stay with her father.
Investigators, acting on a search warrant, also found what they initially thought was a pipe bomb in the garage at the residence on Saturday. The State Patrol bomb squad placed it in a bomb-disposal vehicle while the homes on either side were evacuated.
The device later was identified as a container for smuggling drugs.
This story contains information first reported in the Peninsula Daily News, a media partner of KOMO News. To read the original Daily news story, click here.