Mom's throat cut, infant missing
Pastor Dale Morgan
September 18, 2006
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Mom's throat cut, infant missing*
UNION, Missouri (CNN) -- A composite sketch of a woman suspected of
stealing a newborn and slashing the mother's throat was made public
Monday by police in Missouri.
The sketch is the latest tool in a search effort that includes an Amber
Alert for 10-day-old Abigale "Abby" Lynn Woods, investigators said.
A bloodied knife apparently used in the Friday attack on the infant's
mother, 21-year-old Stephanie Ochsenbine, was found in woods near the
Lonedell, Missouri, home during a search by National Guard troops over
the weekend, said Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke.
Although Ochsenbine did not see the woman's car, she did get a good look
at her attacker, Toelke said.
"She was with the suspect for a substantial period of time, and was able
to give us a good description," he said.
Police said Monday they had received about 250 leads in the case. They
were conducting interviews and awaiting lab results on evidence already
collected.
Toelke said police were checking tapes from surveillance cameras at
local businesses.
Toelke and FBI Special Agent Rowland Corvington declined to rule out the
baby's parents as suspects.
"We don't have anything right now that would point to anybody in
particular," Toelke said. "For that reason, anybody can be a suspect
right now."
He said the family was continuing to cooperate with the investigation.
(Watch what police are doing to find missing baby -- 1:41)
Anyone who notices a new and unexpected infant added to a household
should be suspicious and can call police, Toelke said.
"A lot of times people that commit these type crimes, it may be because
they've had a child die recently, they're taking a child to fulfill the
vacancy," Toelke said.
"Sometimes it may be that they aren't able to have children, and they'll
go out and take a child to maybe satisfy their spouse, something along
those lines. Sometimes people will actually tell people that they're
pregnant and around the time that they're due to have the child will go
out to steal a child just to show that they weren't lying."
The mother, who suffered a cut throat and several stab wounds, was
released from a hospital Saturday night, said her mother, Raylene
Ochsenbine. However, she is "in pieces" over the disappearance of her
baby, she said.
"We just really have to have her home," she said. "She completes us."
(Watch grandparents' plea for baby's safe return -- 3:14)
The attack and kidnapping happened about midday Friday at the end of a
long gravel driveway, off a busy Missouri highway, about 45 miles
southwest of St. Louis.
It started when a female stranger knocked on the door of the rural home,
Toelke said.
"She asked to use the phone and she came in and attempted to make a
call, but apparently their long-distance service wasn't working and I
think she asked to use the bathroom," Toelke said. "At one point, she
told [Ochsenbine] she was there to take the child and that's when there
was an altercation inside the house."
He said Ochsenbine was unconscious for a while after the attack, but
when she woke up she walked 300 yards to the nearest neighbor, which he
said was "quite extraordinary," considering her wounds. The baby's
father was at work at the time.
Pat Bearden, the neighbor, said the bleeding mother told her, "Someone
stole my baby."
The Amber Alert describes the woman being sought as white, between 30
and 40 years old, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing around 200
pounds. Her dark or black hair was pulled under a baseball cap with a
worn bill, authorities said. She was wearing a gray or brown T-shirt and
blue jean shorts. She appeared to have a female mustache.
Toelke said the woman may have suffered a cut on her leg in the struggle
with the mother.
The infant, now 10 days old, weighed barely 6 pounds and was wearing a
pink dress with a flowered collar when she was taken, the alert said.
Abby has a birth mark between her eyes.
Sheriff Toelke said while many such kidnappings are committed by people
who live nearby, there are no assumptions being made in this case.
"There was a sign that said 'Welcome Home Abby,' and maybe the person
saw it," Toelke said
Ochsenbine's year-old son Connor was in the house at the time of the
attack, but was not harmed.
The FBI's child abduction response team was helping in the
investigation, Toelke said. A Missouri National Guard unit also joined
the search during the weekend.