Texas kidnap suspect pretended dead mother's baby was hers

FBI agents canvas the neighbourhood searching for information on Heidi Broussard, a missing Austin, Texas, woman and her infant daughter. Photo / AP

A woman accused of kidnapping a Texas mother who was later found dead hatched an elaborate scheme to present the victim's baby girl as her own, according to court records.

Last month, investigators found the infant, Margot Carey, along with the body of her mother, Heidi Broussard, at a home in the Houston area.

They had been reported missing a week earlier in their hometown of Austin. An arrest affidavit unsealed Monday says Magen Fieramusca, 33, abducted Broussard and packed her into a black duffel.

Broussard's body was later found in the trunk of Fieramusca's car, according to the affidavit.

No one has been charged in Broussard's killing. Police say they are still investigating. Fieramusca is being held in the Travis County Jail on kidnapping and tampering with evidence charges. She denied being in Austin at the time of Broussard's disappearance, the affidavit states. One of her lawyers called the nine-page affidavit "cursory" and asked the public not to rush to judgement.

Attorney Brian Erskine said in a statement that Fieramusca's legal team hasn't yet received all the information requested from prosecutors, but that they "are exploring all options at our disposal to vigorously represent" her.

According to the affidavit, which was first reported by the Austin American-Statesman, Fieramusca and Broussard were friends and met about a decade ago at church camp. At one point, Fieramusca had a key to Broussard's apartment and the women discussed being pregnant together, even considering that they might give birth on the same day, the court record states.

But investigators found discrepancies in Fieramusca's account of her pregnancy. In one conversation, she told a Texas Ranger that she went to the beach with a cousin. But in another, she told the same officer that she gave birth on that day but was unable to provide specifics of her delivery, according to the affidavit. Fieramusca told her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Green, that she had given birth without his knowledge, the affidavit states.

Green and Fieramusca continued to share a home even after they broke up. An investigator later showed Green a missing persons flyer showing Broussard and her daughter. "That's the baby at my house," he allegedly responded. Fieramusca is being held on a $899,700 bond and is set to appear in court. Carey has been returned to her father.

- AP