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Police Interview Woman Who May Be Dead Baby's Mom

POSTED: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
UPDATED: 9:17 pm CST January 29, 2008

Police may be a step closer to finding out the identity of baby found dead alongside a Galveston road on Tuesday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Galveston police said a couple driving around looking at wildlife in the Cherry Hill area spotted what they thought was a doll near Seawall Boulevard and Ferry Road at about 9 a.m.



Jesse Zaro said he got out to look at it and discovered it was a baby lying facedown in the grass. He said he became ill, cried and nearly collapsed before telling his wife about the shocking find.

"I don't know how to describe it. It just … It was horrible. My legs began to shake," Zaro said.

Investigators said the baby boy was a Caucasian, 3 to 6 months old with blond hair dressed only in a diaper. Detectives said he suffered blunt-force head trauma.

Police said an Alvin woman has come forward and reported her 3-month-old son missing. The description of the woman's child and the body matched, investigators said.

Travis Mullis Jr., the father of the woman's baby, has not been seen since morning, officials said. He is wanted for questioning. Mullis, 21, was last seen driving a silver Hyundai with Texas license plate No. 067 RJP.

"The only thing that we have specific about it is it has some duct tape on the right rear passenger door handle," Sgt. Jeremy Schwartz said.

A car seat was found about 30 feet from the baby's body, which was near a utility pole, police said.

"We think that the car seat was connected because of its location and we just have to assume that by the location of the car seat that the child was in the car seat at one time and became separated from the car seat," said Lt. Jorge Trevino of the Galveston Police Department.

Investigators said it's not clear if the child was thrown in the field or placed there.

The Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office will determine the baby's identity and cause of death. Police said they hope to identify the infant through footprints and would consult with the University of Texas Medical Branch.

"Small children -- their footprints are taken, so we're hoping that if the child is from the area, we'll be able to get identification that way," Trevino said.

"If you couldn't handle what you had, you could have given it to someone that could have taken care of that baby -- somebody who could've have cared for it. But, why hurt a poor, defenseless, innocent little baby? It's wrong, it's just simply wrong," Zaro said. "I want justice brought to these people. I want these people to be found and swift justice."

If the baby is not identified, a picture of the boy or a composite sketch will be released to the public.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Galveston's Criminal Investigations Division at 409-765-3662.

This is the second mysterious child death in Galveston in recent months.

A child's body was found in a utility box floating in Galveston Bay in October.

Detectives gave the girl the name "Baby Grace" until they learned her true identity, Riley Ann Sawyers.



Riley's mother and stepfather have been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with her death. Her mother told investigators she died during discipline in July.

Riley's remains were recently returned to her father in Ohio.

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