Houston

Houston Baby Still Missing After Mom Found Fatally Stabbed

UPDATE: Shamali Flores was found alive and appeared unharmed, police said. Read more here.

Houston police suspect the individual who abducted a 6-week-old girl after her mother was fatally stabbed likely knew the child's family.

Police Chief Art Acevedo said Wednesday one theory of investigators is the possibility Shamali Flores may have been abducted by a woman who might present the child as her own.

Authorities began looking for the baby after her mother's body was discovered around midday Tuesday in her Houston apartment.

Police initially said they believed the baby was with her father, Marcos Mariano Palacios. But he was found late Tuesday and Shamali wasn't with him.

Police identified the mother as 33-year-old Carolina Flores. 

Her cousin, Michael Blanco, told Telemundo Houston that Flores and Palacios, both Honduran nationals, had been arguing lately.  

However, authorities say Palacios is not considered a suspect or person of interest in the woman's death.

The fatal attack in the light of day has left neighbors fearing for their safety.

"I don't want to be here, to tell you the truth," Flores' neighbor, Joan Perez, told Telemundo Houston. "I have a family, my sisters, my mom, and I don't want anything to happen to them."

CORRECTION (Dec. 20, 2017, 4:10 p.m. CT): In an earlier version of this story police misidentified the infant's name and the father's name. Police say the father had an alias.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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