A Utah woman has been arrested on multiple murder charges after the bodies of seven dead babies were discovered in her former residence on Saturday.
Police arrested 39-year-old Megan Huntsman, of Pleasant Grove, Utah, after receiving a call from her ex-husband, who is still living in the house that Huntsman vacated in 2011. The ex-husband found the first dead baby during a round of spring cleaning, and called the police immediately. Officers responding to the call arrived at the Pleasant Grove residence to retrieve the baby, which “appeared to be a full term,” according to a police statement.
“A family member was cleaning out the garage and came across a box that looked suspicious. Upon opening the box they found the infant inside,” Capt. Michael Roberts, of the Pleasant Grove Police Department told ABC News.
A search warrant to inspect the home was immediately obtained, and police found six more dead babies inside, boxed up in separate containers. Capt Roberts has since stated that as a result of the ongoing investigation, the Pleasant Grove police have reason to believe that Huntsman gave birth to the six other babies in the period between 1996 and 2006 and then murdered them.
Megan Huntsman’s ex-husband is believed to be the father but investigators are still working on DNA tests, Roberts said. At this point, police are not pursuing charges against him.
After the grisly discovery was made, police swiftly tracked down Megan, who was arrested peacefully, and has since been booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of six counts of murder, reported Salt Lake City CBS affiliate KUTV .
The Pleasant Grove residence where the babies were discovered is a split-level ranch house that is owned by Megan Huntsman’s ex-husband’s parents. In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune , longtime neighbor Sharon Chipman revealed that the couple has three daughters, ranging in ages between 20 to 13, who are currently living at the residence. Chipman hasn’t seen Megan Huntsman’s daughters since the news broke.
The ex had been cleaning out the garage on Saturday, and getting ready to move back into the house this summer, Chipman said, adding, “He was finally coming down to help take care of his family — and to run across that, it would devastate him.”
It is unclear at this time why, despite the fact that the bodies of seven dead babies were discovered, according to multiple sources, Huntsman is only being charged on the 6 counts of murder.