Authorities arrested a mother and father in North Texas on Saturday after their one-week-old son was found dead in a five-gallon bucket of tar.
Roland Grabowski, 42, and Donna Grabowski, 41 faces multiple felonies including tampering with or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, abusing a corpse without legal authority, and abandoning or endangering a child.
Collin County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the death of the child and anticipates that more charges will be filed against the couple.
Sheriff Jim Skinner said that the initial call came as “suspicious circumstance.”
The couple claim that on the morning of July 29, they awoke to find their baby, Micah, has died in their bed from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Investigators obtained a warrant to search the couple’s residence and found the infant in a shed behind the home, submerged in a five-gallon bucket of tar.
They have said “numerous lies” as detectives interviewed them; they initially claimed that the child was being watched by a family friend.
“There was an attempt to deceive us as to what had happened and the whereabouts of their child Micah,” Skinner said.
The couple allegedly tried to get a friend to cover for them, when investigators found a text message that said, “I need you to say your baby is ours. Quick in and out. They just need to see.”
Micah’s body was recovered and turned over to the Collin County Medical Examiner, and an autopsy will be performed to determine the official cause of death.
“I’ve been in this business over 30 years and I’ve seen a lot of crazy things, but this is the first time I’ve found a dead infant in a bucket of tar … and hopefully the last,” Skinner said.
Roland Grabowski is listed as a registered sex offender in the state’s registry.