The six-week-old daughter of a woman who was stabbed to death has been found alive in a Houston apartment.
Police announced on Twitter that Shamali Flores was found early Thursday at a southwest Houston apartment and appears unharmed. She’s being evaluated at a hospital.
Police have provided no other details, including who was with Shamali when she was discovered or how police knew to look for the baby at the home. However, they planned to announce more information surrounding the baby’s finding on Thursday.
A six-month-old baby girl was located safe on Thursday, two days after her mother Carolina Flores was found stabbed to death in their Houston apartment (mother and daughter pictured)
Shamali Flores (left and right) was found in a southeast Houston apartment, police announced Thursday morning. They would not released any other details about how she was found or who she was found with
Carolina Flores, a 33-year-old illegal immigrant from Honduras, was found dead by her 17-year-old nephew at her apartment in northeast Houston. The baby was nowhere to be seen.
Police believe she died sometime between 6:30am and 10:30am on Tuesday. An Amber Alert was issued shortly after her body was found later in the day.
The baby’s father, 34-year-old Marcos Mariano Tomas Palacios (aka Thomas Bernardez), was initially a person of interest in the case.
They located him late Tuesday in San Antonio and he did not have the baby on him. He also claimed incontinence in Flores’ death.
Carolina, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, was found stabbed to death at her apartment by her 17-year-old nephew Tuesday morning
While police say they have not ruled him out ‘100 per cent’ they say he has been ‘forthright and cooperative’.
After questioning Palacios, police held a press conference on Wednesday and said the suspect may be a woman who knows the family and may be passing the baby off as her own.
‘We really believe based on what we’ve seen so far that this suspect who has this child is familiar with this family and familiar with this neighborhood,’ Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said.
He added: ‘The individual who abducted Shamali may be a woman who has or will present the child as their own, and may even indicate the child was recently born. Think about anyone who has a child that you weren’t aware they were pregnant. Also think about people that may have lost a child recently. Women or families that may have lost a child recently. That might be someone we may be interested in talking to.’
Shamali’s father Marcos Mariano Tomas Palacios – aka Thomas Bernardez (right) – was initially called a person of interest. But police interviewed him and released him
Flores’ relatives say she moved to the U.S. about five years ago for a better life
Police still have yet to name a suspect in Flores’ killing or her child’s abduction.
Flores’ cousin Jenny Lopez told KTRK that Flores moved to the U.S. from Honduras illegally about five years ago.
‘She came out here to get something,’ Lopez said. ‘[She] came out here to provide for her kids and to get something out of life because in Honduras there’s nothing.’
Lopez said she sensed something was wrong because her cousin never talked about her baby’s father.
‘She had just had the baby. We had talked, she had just called me Sunday to check on me, and I could hear it in her voice that it wasn’t her, but I didn’t ask no questions. I didn’t think anything was wrong,’ Lopez said.
She says she may have been hesitant to go to the police if anything was wrong because she was undocumented.
Flores two other children, ages seven and 17, who are now in the care of family members. Flores also took care of her niece and nephew.