Parents jailed after newborn found dead in bucket of tar: authorities

A Texas sex offender and his wife are facing felony charges after their baby was found submerged in a 5-gallon bucket of tar over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday.

The couple admitted to wrapping their week-old son in a blanket, placing him in a bucket and hiding it in a shed behind their home after finding him dead around July 29, according to the Collin County Sheriff’s Office.

Roland and Donna Grabowski reportedly told their friends that the newborn died of sudden infant death syndrome, but the medical examiner has yet to determine the official cause of death.

Before their confession, the suspects repeatedly tried to cover up their son’s death, telling investigators at one point that a family friend was watching the baby, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by local news station WFAA.

Authorities launched an investigation last week after learning about an unreported death of an infant in the city of Princeton, about 40 miles north of Dallas.

But the couple was not home, and detectives soon learned they had traveled to Dallas.

When contacted by authorities, the suspects began pressuring their friends to back up their lies, according to the arrest warrant.

“I need you to say your baby is ours,” they reportedly wrote in a text message to a friend. “Quick in and out. They just need to see.”

Donna Grabowski, 41, also lied about her son being born at a hospital that had no record of her being there, authorities said.

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She and her 42-year-old husband were arrested late Saturday on a charge of abandoning or endangering a child, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. After their arrest, the couple finally admitted that the child, named Micah, was dead and that they had failed to report it to authorities, according to the release.

“It’s tragic and it’s sad enough any time we have the death of an infant, but it’s absolutely reprehensible when you lie and you deceive investigators as to the location of the body,” Sheriff Jim Skinner told WFAA.

Detectives then obtained a search warrant for their home and found the baby in the backyard shed.

“I’ve been in this business over 30 years and I’ve seen a lot of crazy things,” Skinner told the station. “But this is the first time I’ve found a dead infant in a bucket of tar... and hopefully the last.”

The pair has since been charged with abandonment or endangerment of a child, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence with an intent to impair a human corpse, jail records show.

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Authorities said the investigation is still active and additional charges are anticipated.

Roland Grabowski, who’s being held on $1 million bond, is a registered sex offender who served time in prison for sexually assaulting two teenage girls, ages 12 and 14, according to the state’s sex offender registry.

His wife is being held on $850,000 bond.

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