Santos Asucena Caseres Cruz, the mother of a newborn baby found deceased inside a cardboard box in a deserted field in Wisconsin a few weeks ago, has been arrested in connection with the death.
Last week, she was charged with one count of neglecting a child resulting in death and moving, concealing, or burying the corpse of a child, according to legal documents.
At around 11am on March 4, officers of the Whitewater Police Department responded to a report of a dead infant at the Twin Oaks Trailer Park, located around 55 miles from Milwaukee.
After finding the box, they discovered a black garbage bag, a red piece of cloth, and the baby’s remains. The cloth the baby was wrapped in was found to be stained with blood. The newborn’s umbilical cord was still attached with evidences of blood from birth on his body. The cause of death couldn’t be determined through an autopsy.
The box had been sent to a crime lab for analysis, and forensic imaging created an image of the box’s shipping label with a visible address. The address was tracked back to an individual referred to as “Witness 1”.
In an interview with the police on March 24, Witness 1 said that his father believed Cruz, Witness 1’s mother, had an affair which resulted in a pregnancy and eventual abortion. When questioned by officers, Cruz denied being pregnant and hiding the newborn in a field. She maintained that the accusations made by her former partner, who was abusive, were false. Cruz allowed police to search her car and residence and provided a buccal swab.
Witness 2, one of Cruz’s children, told the police that Cruz was in the restroom for a long time on January 27 due to stomach pain. According to Witness 2, there was a lot of blood which led her to believe her mother was hemorrhaging.
Cruz admitted to being pregnant and hiding it from her family due to the fact that the baby’s father was not her husband. She confirmed that the baby was alive when it was born, but she did not do anything to help. Fearing her children would discover the truth, Cruz did not call 911.
She hid the baby in a box beneath the sink cabinet, retrieved it in the early morning hours, and dropped it off at the trailer park a half hour later. Cruz said she checked on the box every day and cried.
Cruz was arrested, and her bond was set at $10,000. She is due in court for a preliminary hearing on April 4.