3-Week-Old Girl Found: Infant Found Dead In Dumpster After Parents Shot In California
A 3-week-old girl found dead in a dumpster has been identified as Eliza Delacruz. According to the New York Daily News, police believe that a gunman took the infant from her home in Long Beach after shooting her parents and her uncle. The gunman allegedly put the baby in a trash bag and put her in a dumpster about 120 miles away at an Imperial Beach shopping center in San Diego county.
“The gunman abducted the baby from her W. 51st St house before police arrived… Delacruz’s mother and uncle remain in the hospital and are listed in critical but stable condition after surgery. The father has been released.”
The 3-week-old girl found dead was abducted for unknown reasons. Police have not been able to identify a suspect, and they don’t know the motive in the case. Police do not believe that this was a random act of violence, but the family has not identified the man who shot them.
According to KTLA, the family is afraid of a repeat attack. Their names have not been publicly released, and they aren’t speaking to the media because they are afraid that the gunman could come back and “finish” the job, assuming he wanted the three of them dead.
Authorities confirm body found in San Diego Co. dumpster is missing 3-week-old Eliza Delacruz http://t.co/ospGIFKbuL pic.twitter.com/LyjzpmnTFY
— KTLA (@KTLA) January 5, 2015
“They’re afraid of a person coming back again, if they talk, and that they could be the victim of any retaliation. So they’re terrified,” said Long Beach police Lt. Lloyd Cox. Police say that this attack wasn’t “normal,” and they are asking for the public’s help to find answers and to make an arrest in the case.
“It’s not something we see. And so that makes us think it’s specific and targeted to this family for some reason. We just don’t know why,” Cox said.
People in the area have been mourning the 3-week-old baby girl who was found dead on Sunday night. A memorial has been set up, and visitors have lit candles, left flowers, and said prayers for the family.
A memorial set up in Imperial Beach for a missing 3-week-old baby girl from Long Beach found in a dumpster. #nbc7 pic.twitter.com/trG6hdNpbz
— Elena Gomez (@ElenaNBCSD) January 5, 2015
There have been a couple of infant deaths reported recently. In a related report by the Inquisitr, a 22-day-old baby was found starved to death in Florida. You can read that story here.
[Family photo courtesy of KTLA]
