Pennsylvania mother arrested after police make horrifying discovery in closet
Bodies were found wrapped in towels and plastic bags in closet and attic of Ford City area home
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A Pennsylvania woman has been charged after police discovered the remains of her four infants in the closet and attic of a home she had been evicted from last month.
Jessica Marie Mauthe, 39, was arrested after her former landlord called police to the home she had lived in outside Ford City, about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
The landlord, Brent Flanigan, told WTAE-TV that he had law enforcement evict Mauthe for nonpayment on Aug. 14.
After he began cleaning the home, he came across a trash bag in a closet that had a foul odor and something wrapped in towels that was decomposing, according to the arrest affidavit issued Thursday.
The exterior of a house is shown in the Freeport area of Pa., Friday, Sept. 19, 2025 where Jessica Marie Mauthe, the woman facing a charge of homicide and multiple counts of abuse of a corpse, lived. (Massoud Hossaini/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP)
Investigators searched the home and found the bodies of three other infants in the attic in tote bags, wrapped in towels and inside plastic bags, police said.
“Shocked. No one believed it. It’s just evil,” neighbor Carmen Felix told WTAE-TV. “How can you plop babies in the toilet? The girl across from here is a nurse, and she’s sick. She almost didn’t go to work today because she can’t get this off her mind.”
Mauthe’s former landlord said he discovered the corpse of one infant in a closet while cleaning out the home earlier this month. (Massoud Hossaini/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP)
About a year ago, Mauthe told investigators, she gave birth to a child who made several noises before she held the child “against her, where it remained until it stopped making noises and stopped breathing,” police wrote.
Mauthe told troopers that one newborn had whimpered after she gave birth to it about six years ago, after which she passed out on the floor, according to the affidavit. When she awakened, the baby was beneath her and was not breathing, she told them.
Pennsylvania State Police have investigated the incident. (AP Photo/Aimee Dilger)
Mauthe was charged with criminal homicide, involuntary manslaughter and multiple counts of abuse of a corpse. She is being held in the Armstrong County Jail without bail.
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A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week.
