Heidi Broussard and her 3-week-old daughter disappeared from their home in Austin, Texas, on December 12, 2019, sparking a major manhunt for the 33-year-old and her newborn baby Margot. The search came to a heartbreaking end when, a week later, Broussard’s decomposing body was found in the trunk of her friend Magen Fieramusca’s vehicle outside the home Fieramusca shared with her ex-boyfriend in Houston, ABC News reported.
Baby Margot was found alive inside the home and was returned to the custody of her father Shane Carey, the outlet wrote. An official shared with ABC News that Fieramusca, also known as Maygen Humphrey, had been telling people she was expecting a baby, while her ex-boyfriend said, “he never saw Magen Fieramusca’s bare stomach during the pregnancy.” The arrest affidavit stated that when he was shown a photo of Margot, he replied, “that’s the baby at my house.”
According to a grand jury indictment against Fieramusca, the woman is accused of “intentionally caus[ing] the death of Heidi Broussard by ligature strangulation, and by asphyxiating Heidi Broussard with a leash,” ABC News wrote. She is now facing trial over these charges.
Broussard & Margot Went Missing on December 12 & Authorities Searched for a Week Until Her Body Was Found in Fieramusca’s Car
Broussard’s partner Shane Carey said he last saw her on December 12, 2019, at around 6:30 a.m. when he was leaving for work, the affidavit stated according to KXAN. At around 9:05 a.m., a car that looked like Fieramusca’s drove to the back of Broussard’s apartment and a witness saw a woman and a young baby getting into the vehicle. Fieramusca’s phone records also put her in that area, KXAN reported.
According to KXAN’s report on an affidavit, an eyewitness saw Broussard getting into a vehicle with Fieramusca the day of her disappearance. Carey called the police that evening at 7:30 p.m. after he returned home and noticed Broussard didn’t take anything she needed for their newborn baby, and friends and family had also not heard from her.
The disappearance led to a wide search for Broussard and Margot Carey which culminated a week later when Broussard’s body was found in a duffel bag in the trunk of a vehicle outside Fieramusca’s home. The vehicle was also registered to Fieramusca and baby Margot was found alive inside. According to court documents, Fieramusca used “a leash, her hands, and ‘a manner unknown to the grand jury'” to strangle her friend, CBS Austin reported.
An Affidavit Provided More Details About Fieramusca’s Arrest & Said She Was Passing Off Broussard’s Baby as Her Own
An affidavit stated that Fieramusca was a close friend of Broussard’s and was one of three people in the delivery room when Broussard gave birth to Margot on November 26, 2019, KXAN wrote. Fieramusca, who lived in Houston, had told people she was 37 weeks pregnant at the time and drove to Austin to be present. The affidavit added that Fieramusca stepped in to hold the baby as she was being handed to her paternal grandfather.
Carey shared with investigators that Fieramusca told Broussard she’d given birth to a baby girl on December 8 or 9, KXAN wrote. The affidavit stated that on December 12, 2019, “Magen Fieramusca presented Heidi Broussard’s Newborn Child as her own to her boyfriend.”
Fieramusca and Broussard were childhood friends and met at church camp 24 years earlier, a mutual friend told KHOU. The friend, Caressa Nolte, was on a live podcast speaking about Broussard’s disappearance on December 19 when the hosts learned of a search at a home in Houston. “There is a baby registry to the owners of that house,” one host said. “Mayen Humphrey and Christopher Green have a baby registry.”
Nolte reacted, “Oh my God. What? That’s Magen…her best friend. She met her at church camp with me. I talk to Magen every day. She’s been like sick over this. She just had a baby and she’s breastfeeding…”
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