Body found in search for missing Texas mom Heidi Broussard, friend arrested
Police discover body near Houston, Heidi Broussard's infant daughter was found alive and unharmed; Casey Stegall reports from Dallas.
A close friend of a Texas mom whose body was found dead after disappearing with her nearly 1-month old daughter unwittingly revealed details about the suspect connected in the case during a live podcast interview Thursday night.
Authorities confirmed Thursday that they had discovered a body in the trunk of a car parked outside a Houston-area home during the search for Heidi Broussard and her daughter Margot Carey. A newborn baby was also found alive and unharmed inside the home.
As police were zeroing in on a suspect -- later identified by media as Magen Fieramusca -- a close friend of Broussard was being interviewed live on the "Jay for Justice" crime podcast, where she reportedly revealed details about the long friendship between the two women.
Broussard and Margo were reported missing Dec. 12 after Broussard dropped off her Broussard's 6-year-old son at Cowan Elementary School in Austin. Police said Broussard and her baby returned home, where their belongings were found, before disappearing.
The podcast's host told Caressa Nolte, who said she was a close friend of Broussard, that new details about the home where the body was found were emerging, including that a baby registry was linked to the residence in the suspect's name.
“Magen Humphrey and Christopher Green have a baby registry," one of the hosts said, according to a KHOU report.
“Oh my God. What?” Nolte could be heard asking. “That’s Magen, her best friend. She met her at church camp with me.”
Fieramusca was known to also go by the last name Humphrey.
Nolte continued to say that the trio met nearly 24 years in Columbus, Texas, and that Broussard and Fieramusca remained close but that she herself had only rekindled her friendship with Fieramusca after Broussard disappeared on Dec. 12.
The interview grew increasingly odd after Nolte explained that she had been talking to Fieramusca every day since the manhunt and that she, too, had recently given birth.
“She’s been like sick over this. She just had a baby and she’s breastfeeding,” Nolte said of Fieramusca, whom she said has a baby girl named Luna.
Magen Rose Fieramusca was arrested in connection to the case of a missing Texas mom and infant daughter. A body believed to be that of Heidi Broussard was found Friday. (Harris County District Attorneys Office)
Investigators have alleged that Fieramusca had been plotting to take the Broussard's newborn, pretending to be pregnant at the same time as the victim.
“She’s 15 days old, 16 days old,” Nolte said of the alleged child. “Her and Heidi are best, best friends. She was there in the room when Heidi had Margot.”
Nolte admitted to never having seen pictures of the child but she did overhear a crying baby while on the phone with Fieramusca.
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Austin Police Chief Brian Manley confirmed that a person has been arrested and charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse.
Austin police Detective Brad Herries said the suspect is in custody and being held on $600,000 bail. Police said more charges are possible. KTRK, citing jail records, reported Friday that Magen Rose Fieramusca is being held in the Harris County Jail on those charges.
In this Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 photo, FBI agents canvas the neighborhood searching for information on Heidi Broussard, a missing Austin, Texas, woman and her infant daughter in South Austin, Texas. Authorities recovered a woman's body and found a child safe in a home on the outskirts of Houston. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Broussard and Margot were reported missing Dec. 12 after dropping off her 6-year-old son at Cowan Elementary School in Austin. Police said Broussard and her baby returned home, where their belongings were found, before disappearing.
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Broussard’s fiance, Shane Carey, had called the police later that day after he was notified by his son’s school that Broussard never picked him up.
Broussard's body was positively identified by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science Friday, ruling her cause of death a homicide by strangulation.
No murder charges have been filed.
Fox News' Melissa Leon contributed to this report.
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