U.S.-born baby found dead at empty lot in Tijuana; authorities seek clues

Authorities in Baja California are investigating the death of a 7-month-old U.S.-born infant whose corpse was found in an empty lot in Tijuana last week.

Investigators with the Baja California attorney general’s office have been questioning the child’s 20-year-old mother, who is a U.S. citizen, and her 22-year-old boyfriend, a Mexican citizen. As of Tuesday, neither had been charged, said Miguel Angel Guerrero, the state agency’s head of special investigations.

The boyfriend apparently was not the baby’s father.

The couple told Mexican investigators that the baby, Elliot Villalobos, died in a fall, Guerrero said. They said they were frightened “and unsure of how to proceed,” and wrapped the body in some blankets and left it in an empty lot in a neighborhood known as Lomas de la Presa.

State investigators found the body Friday, about 20 days after it had been left behind.

The baby’s disappearance came to light when concerned U.S. family members contacted Chula Vista police Aug. 31 “regarding circumstances surrounding [the couple’s] disappearance in Mexico and possible harm to baby Elliot,” according to a police statement. The couple had not been in contact with relatives since June.

The infant’s mother and her boyfriend were found Thursday in San Diego by San Diego police. “What they told us was that their baby died, that they didn’t do anything wrong,” said Lt. Fritz Reber of the Chula Vista Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

To read the article in Spanish, click here