Union, Mo. – A woman who authorities say slit the throat of a young mother and stole her baby was charged Wednesday with kidnapping and assault as authorities cast doubt on her claims that she had recently lost her own baby.
The baby was found in good condition late Tuesday – four days after being abducted – and the woman accused of the crime, Shannon Torrez, was arrested.
In court papers, authorities said Torrez, 36, learned about the week-old baby through a “welcome home” yard sign for the new mother, Stephenie Ochsenbine.
Sheriff Gary Toelke said Torrez told investigators she was nine months pregnant but lost the baby Friday, the same day Abigale Lynn Woods was kidnapped. But Toelke said investigators are trying to determine whether Torrez had been pregnant.
“There is speculation maybe she wasn’t,” Toelke said. There was no sign of a stillborn baby.
Torrez was arrested Tuesday after her sister-in-law, Dorothy Torrez, contacted authorities.
Dorothy Torrez became suspicious when she noticed makeup on the forehead of the baby her sister-in-law claimed was her own, authorities said. She rubbed off the makeup and found a strawberry-red birthmark that matched one in the description of the kidnapped infant, investigators said.
