Officials: Texas Parents Lied About Missing Newborn Before He Was Found in a Bucket

Roland and Donna Grabowski Collin County Sheriff's Office

Authorities in Texas said that the body of a newborn child was discovered inside of a bucket of tar, and a couple has been charged.

Roland and Donna Grabowski were arrested late on Saturday in McKinney, located near Dallas, police said to local news outlets.

A Collin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman told The Associated Press that the couple has refused to cooperate. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the 1-week-old child’s death.

Deputies responded to their home regarding a possible unreported death of an infant, the office said, according to WFAA.

Sheriff Jim Skinner confirmed to WFAA that the couple faces multiple felonies including abandoning or endangering a child.

Police said in arrest warrants that the couple told deputies “numerous lies” while they were being questioned, according to WFAA. They initially said the boy was being watched by a family friend, the warrant said.

“There was an attempt to deceive us as to what had happened and the whereabouts of their child Micah,” said Skinner, referring to the name of the deceased child. An arrest warrant said the couple allegedly attempted to convince a friend to cover for them with a text: “I need you to say your baby is ours. Quick in and out. They just need to see.”

According to officials, the two also told friends that the boy died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

“They took the child and wrapped him in a blanket and submerged him into a five-gallon bucket of tar and put him in a shed behind the residence,” Skinner said.

Capt. Nick Bristow said that when officials searched their home, they found a bucket of tar with the child inside, AP reported. Bristow added that the couple also said they awoke on July 29 to find their son dead in their bed and never reported it to the authorities.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Family and Protective Services told the Dallas Morning News investigators with Child Protective Services are working with law enforcement to investigate the incident.

The couple has two other children, including a 9-year-old and a 1-year-old, the department spokeswoman added. They have been in foster care for “some time” in another part of Texas, she said.

The spokeswoman didn’t elaborate on why the two children were in foster care.

Court records show that Roland Grabowski was sentenced to two years in prison and was released in 2009. He also is listed in the state’s sex offender registry, the paper said.