A 3-month-old Indiana boy who was found dead on Sunday was reportedly discovered in a sealed bucket in the family’s apartment.
Jacob Moneus was reported missing on Saturday after his mother went to the hospital with a skull fracture and cuts and claimed her husband, Eliasard Moneus, had attacked her with a tire iron or wrench. She explained that he took their son before the attack and she did not know where he was, according to WGN.
Authorities now believe Jacob Moneus was already dead by the time a Silver Alert was issued for him on Saturday. The Journal & Courier reported that police initially searched the Lafayette apartment and discovered blood spatter but not the baby.
Reports indicated that Eliasard Moneus was found in Indianapolis on Sunday morning. Around the same time, officers were conducting another search at the Lafayette residence when they discovered the infant’s body in an orange bucket of laundry detergent with a snap-seal lid. WGN reported that the bucket was located next to a trash can
“When the officers were initially inside the apartment checking out the scene, baby was nowhere to be found,” Lafayette police Sgt. Shawn Verma told the Journal & Courier. “He was concealed in an area [of the apartment] that an officer would never think to look.”
Once detained, Eliasard Moneus allegedly admitted to hitting his wife with a tool before stating he wished she died from her injuries. He reportedly told police that his son was okay.
Though an autopsy is scheduled for Monday, the Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office listed the infant’s preliminary cause of death as asphyxia and deemed the case a homicide.
Elisard Moneus is charged with domestic battery resulting in serious injury, domestic battery by means of a deadly weapon, domestic battery committed with a child less than 16 years old present, and attempted murder. As of Monday, he has not been charged in connection with his son’s death.
