HOUSTON—In a modest apartment complex on Shorewood Lane, an unsettling discovery has been made behind the door to apartment number 41. "I heard about the lady who mummified her child, and I was astonished by it," said neighbor Nick Romano. "I didn’t know what to say." The call came in to HPD just before midnight. "Upon arrival patrol officers found what appeared to be the mummified remains of an infant wrapped inside a blanket," said Jack Harvey, and investigator assigned to HPD’s homicide division. The infant’s body was found underneath a vanity and was so badly decomposed; police at the scene were unable to determine a gender. The discovery was made by the parents of the 24-year-old woman who lives there after they noticed a foul odor coming from the apartment. It all begs some disturbing questions. Chief among them: was the infant stillborn or alive? "At this point we’re not sure if it was a homicide," said Harvey. "We’re not even sure the fetus was ever alive, but it’s highly auspicious, and we’re going to go ahead and investigate it." The mother, who has three other children, was taken to HPD headquarters for questioning. Police said she is cooperating. However, no charges have been filed, and no one has been taken into custody pending the outcome of an autopsy. Given the state of decomposition, police say that could take weeks or perhaps even months.
