MADISON COUNTY, Ind. – Authorities say an Indiana woman posed as a child services worker to lure a mother from her home, then killed her and kidnapped her newborn baby.
Police say the incident began on April 4 when Samantha Fleming received a call from a blocked phone number.
Police believe the call was from Geraldine Jones, a woman who was pretending to be a Department of Child Services employee.
A few days later, Jones dressed in business attire and showed up at Fleming’s home for a “surprise inspection,” according to WXIN.
Jones allegedly told Fleming she was there to take her to a court hearing.
She also told Fleming to bring the 17-day-old baby, Serenity, with her to court because “it would look better if you took the baby with you when we went to court,” court documents said.
Police began a missing persons investigation and tried to track Fleming’s cell phone.
Authorities later found several text messages between Fleming and her mother.
Family members didn’t believe the person sending the messages was actually Fleming because, Fleming “doesn’t spell well” and the text messages showed perfect spelling.
Authorities later found Fleming’s wallet at an apartment complex nearly 180 miles away from her home.
Investigators eventually tracked the blocked phone number that called Fleming and learned it was Jones who made the phone call.
They ran her name and found out where she lived.
When authorities arrived to her home, the found Jones’ sister holding a baby.
Jones’ sister told investigators the baby wasn’t hers and that she belonged to her sister.
The sister said Jones dropped the baby off and went to Texas because she was depressed.
When police asked the woman if she really thought the baby was her sister’s, she told police she didn’t believe so.
Inside of Jones’ house, police found Felming’s body wrapped in plastic inside a closet.
Jones was later found in a hospital in Texas, where police say she tried to kill herself.
She allegedly told neighbors and family members she was pregnant with twins and that one of the twins died during child birth.
Police are still investigating how Jones was able to obtain personal information about Fleming.
Jones is facing charges of murder, kidnapping, and criminal confinement.
Read more on the story at WXIN.
