RIVERSIDE: Infant’s remains found in field near airport
Officials located the shallow grave after searching the field for several hours. Loudlabs News photo
RIVERSIDE – Riverside police officials located what they believe to be the remains of an infant Thursday, Jan. 5. The remains were located in a field next to a business complex in the area of Central and Hillside Avenues near the Riverside Municipal Airport in Riverside.
Police officials believe the remains are those of a baby that was buried shortly after its birth about a year ago, according to Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback.
The remains were found after an investigation began Wednesday when a pregnant transient woman checked into a Riverside area hospital to give birth.
While at the hospital, the woman admitted to hospital staff and later a social worker from Child Protective Services that she had previously been pregnant and had given birth prematurely to another child who died shortly after being born. She estimated the incident happened about a year earlier.
A rock with a chalk-drawn heart was found marking the grave along with several other rocks. Loudlabs News photo
The woman told officials that because she was indigent and did not know what else to do, she had buried the child in a shallow grave in the field.
After being contacted by CPS social workers, Riverside police officers went to the hospital to interview the woman and her male companion, however the couple had left the hospital before the officers arrived. Officers eventually located the couple the following day.
It was believed the child born Wednesday remained in CPS custody.
After locating the woman and finding out more about where she had buried the deceased infant, officials went to the field to search for the infant’s remains Thursday evening around 5 p.m.
After searching the field for several hours, detectives, forensic technicians, and other officials finally located the shallow grave near a rock with a chalk-drawn heart on it about 11 p.m.
After finding some sort of remains in the field, officials contacted the Riverside County Coroner’s Office to take custody of the remains for further investigation and to perform an autopsy, to try to determine what the infant’s cause of death was.
An official carries what was believed to be the infant’s remains from the field. Loudlabs News photo
Officials are hopeful coroner’s officials will be able to successfully determine what led to the infants death as well as when the infant actually died.
Railsback explained officials did not believe the infant was intentionally killed and believed it was either born prematurely, was stillborn, or died of natural causes. “It may have been alive for an hour,” he said.
Railsback said while it is illegal to bury human remains, police have not arrested either of the adults and said because they do not believe there was malice involved it wasn’t clear yet whether either would be arrested.
The incident remains under investigation.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Riverside police detectives at (951) 826-5700. Callers can remain anonymous.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.