A 22-year-old Alaska resident left a grisly reminder behind after visiting her parents in Mesa County last week, a dead newborn, according to Grand Junction police.
Morgan Hite was arrested today in Wasilla, a town of about 6,700 about 40 miles northeast of Anchorage, in connection with the April 29 death of the child.
She is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. She has been ordered to be held without bond to be extradited back to Colorado, said Grand Junction Police Chief Bill Gardner.
According to Alaska state troopers, Hite was arrested by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation about 4 p.m. MDT at the troopers’ post for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in Palmer.
Pending arraignment on the Colorado charges, she is being held as a fugitive from justice in the borough’s pretrial facility in Palmer, according to Alaska troopers.
Grand Junction detectives went to Alaska and worked with local authorities and the Mesa County coroner’s office before making the arrest, Gardner said.
“It’s a strange case,” Gardner said. “It took the work of a lot of law enforcement agencies working together. We interviewed her several times up there, and today felt like we had a good case to arrest her.”
Public records show Hite has family in Colorado and Alaska.
Family members in Colorado and Alaska did not return telephone calls tonight.
