GUILTY CA - Ana De Ceja, 26, slain, infant son abducted, Planada, 2 Dec 2010

[Cazzie]

How do they ID live babies...blood test matched against blood test of the father or other relative?

 

[KaylynnCouture]

How do they ID live babies...blood test matched against blood test of the father or other relative?

That's the only way I can think of.

 

[cleo612]

Most hospitals also take footprints of newborns prior to them leaving the hospital.

 

[Texas Mist]

2:45 p.m. The burned body found Thursday in an almond orchard northwest of Snelling has been identified by the Merced County Sheriff's Department as Ana Lila Diaz DeCeja.

Investigators used dental records to identify the remains, according to Merced County sheriff's spokesman Tom MacKenzie.


Read more:

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/12/07/1683178/infant-found-on-le-grand-homes.html

:rose: RIP, Ana Lila :rose:

How horrible & senseless this happens to this young mother

 

[Cazzie]

Oh no...poor Ana. And poor Anthony. He must be the baby found (I hope).

May you rest in peace, Ana.

 

[Bratislava]

How horrible for her two children. RIP Anna.

 

[chasing.halos]

Rest in peace beautiful Anna

While I am so sad for Anna, I am so thankful that perhaps baby Anthony was dropped off unharmed. I know we don't know yet if it is him but I feel the chances are pretty high it is him.

 

[JamaicanMeFrooti]

Snelling homicide, missing Planada woman and baby being jointly investigated by sheriff's office

The Merced Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division said it continued its investigation through Thursday night in the homicide of a person burned beyond recognition near Snelling.

In an ominous twist, as officers were conducting that investigation, the sheriff’s Patrol Division took a missing person’s report in the 1500 block of Plainsburg Road in Planada.

Missing are Ana Lila Diaz DeCeja, 26, and her infant son, Anthony Ceja-Diaz, two months old.

[snip]

Positive identification hasn’t been made on the body found near Snelling, and an autopsy is still pending. The Sheriff’s Office said it’s conducting a parallel investigation into both the missing person’s case and the homicide. No further details will be released on either case, at least for awhile, to protect the integrity of both investigations.

Read more: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/12/03/1678827/snelling-homicide-missing-planada.html#ixzz177aXuMix​

​

​

I guess LE was correct from the beginning.
RIP Ana Lila
Prayers to her family and friends... Praying that baby Anthony is the baby boy that was found safe on the doorstep! raying:

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Missing Mom Confirmed Dead; Baby Found?

[snip]

DNA tests have been taken, but it will take about a week to determine if the found baby is, indeed, Anthony.

Meanwhile, investigators are keeping tight-lipped about whether they gleaned any evidence from DeCeja's abandoned Chevy Avalanche -- which was found Friday night not far from the Snelling orchard where that burned body was discovered.

MacKenzie said the father of DeCeja's son and her family members have been cooperating with the investigation.

http://www.kmjnow.com/pages/landing...d-Dead-Baby-Found=1&blockID=368268&feedID=806

 

[cluciano63]

I assume the father could identify the baby? But LE not taking his word for it, or they need an offical ID?

I'm so sorry for Ana and hoping, for her childrens' sake, that this was a random, i.e. stranger crime.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I assume the father could identify the baby? But LE not taking his word for it, or they need an offical ID?

I'm so sorry for Ana and hoping, for her childrens' sake, that this was a random, i.e. stranger crime.

I was thinking the same thing. Why not just ask the father if the baby is his? I understand needing official confirmation through DNA, but to at least get a tentative confirmation?

I'm having a hard time seeing a stranger commit this crime though. Especially since Anthony apparently turned up unharmed. No kidnapping. But you never know.

 

[Texas Mist]

Investigators are still waiting for DNA results to confirm if a baby boy found on the doorstep of a home in Le Grand is indeed 2-month-old Anthony Ceja Diaz.

more here - including it could take a week to get DNA results back

http://www.cbs47.tv/news/local/stor...for-Answers-After/wC1XivQG2UiD1Pe_SsJlKw.cspx

 

[MsFacetious]

What would the motive here be??

Abandoning the child and killing the mother?


Killing the mother and taking the child, yes.

Killing your wife and keeping your child, yes.

But this just makes no sense at all. I can't see a reason for a husband to leave his own baby on someone else's doorstep. Why not just say the Mom left and then didn't return?? Have the baby with you?

I'm also wondering where the incorrect time line information came from... and whether or not police suspect that person. It wouldn't be the first time a perp tried to change the direction of the investigation with false information.

 

[cleo612]

I sure hope they dusted for fingerprints on the storm door of the house where the baby was left. If there are prints found there, it would likely point directly back to the person who took this beautiful woman's life.

The following is pure speculation based on my initial gut instinct when I heard that a baby had been found abandoned:

What if it was her husband that did this? He could have killed the mother, burned her body, and later that night left the baby on the doorstep, knowing that the baby would eventually be returned to him. "Abandoning" the baby in this manner would take the attention away from him as being responsible for this entire crime unless, of course, they do find his prints on that door.

If I remember correctly, the father was not in the picture until later in the timeline. As I recall, it was one of Ana's brothers who was speaking to police/media.

 

[BrownRice]

Have they said if the infant was a newborn? There's an obvious difference from a newborn (the age most babies are abandoned) and a 2 mo old. Also, couldn't other family members ID him as well?

Maybe she was carjacked and he (perp) didn't see the baby until he was in the car. Then he raped/killed her and (thankfully) didn't want to kill the baby.

Regardless, it's a horrible story. Hopefully the husband/father had nothing to do with it.

 

[MsFacetious]

Investigators are still waiting for DNA results to confirm if a baby boy found on the doorstep of a home in Le Grand is indeed 2-month-old Anthony Ceja Diaz.

"We're working under the assumption that this is the missing child. But there is that less than 1% chance or 1% chance that this is a baby from somewhere else and does not belong to it," said Deputy Tom MacKenzie, Merced County Sheriff's Department.

http://www.cbs47.tv/news/local/stor...for-Answers-After/wC1XivQG2UiD1Pe_SsJlKw.cspx


They haven't outright said it, but obviously they don't believe it's a newborn, they believe it's Anthony.

I am just having a hard time imagining someone being evil enough to burn the baby's mother's body... yet caring enough not to kill the baby. I mean of course it's possible... it's just confusing to me.

A case that comes to mind immediately is Ginger Hayes and her son Nicholas. They were carjacked while she was changing his diaper in a parking lot. She was raped and murdered in a field. Nicholas was left in the same field to die of exposure... but he survived because he was found in time. The guy didn't directly kill the baby but he didn't do anything like leaving him in the car, which would increase odds of his survival.

The only way it would make sense to me, is if the perp is not a stranger. If this is a stranger killing... then I do not understand not killing the baby. Somebody who will burn the mother beyond recognition... isn't going to be real concerned about risking detection by putting the child on a doorstep. I'm also not sure the husband would have come up with the idea in that frantic of a moment, to abandon the baby to make him look less guilty.

I really can't come up with a scenario and motive that does make sense...

 

[pomegranate]

What if it was her husband that did this? He could have killed the mother, burned her body, and later that night left the baby on the doorstep, knowing that the baby would eventually be returned to him. "Abandoning" the baby in this manner would take the attention away from him as being responsible for this entire crime unless, of course, they do find his prints on that door.

That was exactly what I thought when I heard about the baby on the doorstep. I can't imaging anyone but the father caring enough to make sure that the baby was found. Quote respectfully snipped by me and MOO.

 

[Bratislava]

I agree. I think it will turn up that the times given by the father were not accurate. Wonder if he actually showed up for work. JMO.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

I don't understand the motive for this at all.

When I first heard this case, I thought for sure it sounded like someone had taken Anthony so they could have a child..then killed the mother. However, abandoning the baby makes no sense. Why take the baby in the first place, and WHY kill the mother?

I'm completely dumbfounded with this case.

 

[MsFacetious]

I agree. I think it will turn up that the times given by the father were not accurate. Wonder if he actually showed up for work. JMO.

Neighbors saw her getting into her vehicle... in fact I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that her husband gave information about what time she left or where she was going. So time line information didn't come from her husband alone, if it came from him at all.

That's why I wonder if any neighbors are suspected...

If you see a neighbor leaving and remember it... you might be off on the time by an hour. But you are not likely to be off by 3 hours. Even with my crappy memory, I was/would be able to narrow it down more than that. There are things you do throughout your day that you can use to narrow it down.

"I was leaving for my own appointment which was at 11am, we left the house at 10am. So it would have been between 9:30am and 10am when I was loading the truck."

"It was before the mail came because I was checking to see if it was here.... I went out to check after we ate lunch at Noon."

"I was feeding the horses, so it was before 10am."

"It was just before I talked to my sister on the phone, which was after I watched my favorite show that is on at 11am."

"I was getting the package off the porch, let me look at the tracking to see what time it was delivered."

"It was just after the bus came around to pick up the kids."

"It was just after the garbage truck came by."

I actually had to do this many years ago when we had a unheard of homicide in our area. I had noticed the vehicle drive down our street, because it had a flat tire. I had to narrow down the time, I had no idea I hadn't looked at my phone. However, I had come home from an appointment and was leaving for work and it was between the two events. I was able to narrow it down within 15 minutes.

I am very observant though... but if the neighbors saw her leave I guess I just can't imagine that they were outside all day long doing the same thing with no frame of reference to narrow down the time line. :waitasec:

Maybe the police were wrong and it came from the husband all along...