CADOGAN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A woman is facing charges after authorities said that three infants were found dead inside an Armstrong County home where she was recently evicted.
Jessica Mauthe, 39, of Ford City, is charged with criminal homicide and abusing a corpse.
The investigation started on Saturday when the owner of a home on Oak Lane in Cadogan Township was cleaning out the property and found a dead infant inside a trash bag in one of the closets.
This comes one month after Mauthe was evicted from the home.
According to court documents, when the owner went into the house on September 13, he “observed a trash bag in the closet with a foul odor.” Police and the coroner were called, who confirmed “a deceased infant” was inside the bag.
According to the criminal complaint, two more infants were found dead inside totes in the attic of the home.
When troopers questioned Mauthe about one of the totes, she informed troopers that “it was an infant child that she had birthed approximately one year ago,” according to court documents. She told troopers she could hear the child making several noises from a toilet. She then removed the child, wrapped it in a towel, placed the infant in several plastic bags, then inside of a closet.
Mauthe also told police she gave birth to the two additional infants, placing them in bags, towels, and totes. It’s unclear when those births took place.
“My heart goes to all of the babies because that’s just not right,” said Alle Marshall, who lives down the street. “She just seemed like a normal person, a struggling single mom, she didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, so it’s kind of just crazy.”
Marshall and her boyfriend babysat Mauthe’s two school-aged boys at the house, saying the kids seemed happy and were very self-sufficient.
“When we heard there were two other bodies before we heard that they were babies, we were just praying that it wasn’t those two little boys that she has. They are very good kids,” Marshall said. “They always had a smile on their face.”
State police told Channel 11 this is a very active and ongoing investigation.
Mauthe is currently in the Armstrong County Jail and was denied bail.
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