8-Month-Old Found Dead in Pond, Father Found Naked Along the Road, Charged With Murder

An undated stock image of an infant. Christiana Bella/Pixabay

A father in Tioga County has been arrested and charged for the death of his 8-month-old daughter who was found dead in a pond on June 9.

Baby Ruby Franciscovich was found dead face down in a pond while her father, 25-year-old Cody Franciscovich was found naked along the road, reported WBNG.

Authorities said Tioga County 911 received a call at 7:14 a.m. on Sunday about a baby missing from the Deep Well Motel in the town of Tioga. The police discovered that the baby was last seen with Franciscovich before 8 a.m.

Around this time the police received another call about a man found naked along the roadside near the motel. It was Franciscovich and he was taken into custody.

Franciscovich directed police to a pond behind St. Patrick’s Cemetery where baby Ruby was found head down, about 25 feet away from the edge of the pond.

An trooper reached Ruby and gave her CPR. She was transported to a hospital in Johnson City where she was declared dead.

The father was charged with first-degree murder and was taken to the Tioga County Jail without bail.

“Right now, we feel we have the person in custody who is responsible,” New York State Police Capt. Scott Heggelke said in a press conference according to Press Connects.

“Any other evidence that’s uncovered, we'll discuss it with [the district attorney], and if warranted, charges would be made.”

Post mortem results are expected on Monday and authorities have yet not disclosed why Franciscovich may have killed Ruby.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Ruby’s family at this time,” Tioga County District Attorney Kirk Martin said, according to Press Connects.

“I want to commend the state police; the investigation was very thorough.”

The child has two siblings aged 4 and 2, and they are under the care of other family members.

Franciscovich is scheduled to appear in Tioga Town Court on Wednesday.

Child Abuse in the United States

An estimated, 700,000 children are abused in the country every year. Around 1,670 children died due to child abuse in 2015, according to the National Children’s Alliance.

In the same year, children advocacy groups served 311,000 cases of child abuse around the nation, whereas about 683,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect.

“Households in which participants suffer from alcoholism, substance abuse, or anger issues demonstrate higher occurrences of child abuse as compared to households without,” according to Psychology Today.

Child abuse is about actions that cause harm but it can also be about inactions that cause harm and that falls under neglect.

“Physical abuse involves non-accidental harming of a child by, for example, burning, beating, or breaking bones. Verbal abuse involves harming a child by, for example, belittling them or threatening physical or sexual acts. Emotional trauma can result from several forms of abuse,” reported Psychology Today.