Jessica Lynn Weeks (Bannock County Jail)
A 32-year-old woman in Idaho was arrested last week after police reportedly said they found her newborn daughter’s skeletal remains crammed into a carry-on suitcase that was hidden inside a backyard doghouse for months. Jessica Lynn Weeks was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count each of injury to a child, failure to report death, and concealing or destroying evidence in connection with the infant’s death.
The child died shortly after she was born, but Weeks reportedly refused to contact authorities because she had a warrant out for her arrest and had been doing drugs prior to giving birth, East Idaho News reported.
According to the report, the investigation into Weeks began when an imprisoned person in Cache County, Utah, told his mother he had information about a deceased newborn in Bannock County, Idaho. The mother then contacted police, telling them her son knew about a “deceased infant” whose body was “located in a piece of luggage near the dog house in the back of the residence.”
When police spoke with the inmate — who is not identified in the report — he reiterated his story, reportedly naming Weeks as the baby’s mother and claiming that she refused to go to the hospital because she had been using drugs throughout her pregnancy. The inmate further said that one of Weeks’ female friends was present for the birth of the baby, the station reported.
A second inmate also reportedly knew about the deceased newborn and had actually seen the child’s remains. He allegedly told police that he was cleaning up Weeks’ yard several months after she had given birth when he came across a suitcase. When he opened the case, he said he saw a newborn’s body wrapped in plastic, adding that the infant’s leg “flopped onto his arm,” East Idaho News reported. The inmate reportedly said he left the home and never returned.
The second inmate drew investigators a map of Weeks’ property which they subsequently matched with satellite photos of the home, the Idaho State Journal reported. The information led authorities to obtain a search warrant for Weeks’ home, located in the 3400 block of East State Highway 40.
Officers executing the warrant on June 5 reportedly said they could immediately smell the “odor of decomposition” coming from the yard. They quickly located the “purple carry-on style suitcase” in the doghouse and found the newborn’s skeletal remains inside. The body was covered in “numerous types of insects” and transported to the local morgue for an autopsy, per the report.
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Weeks was located hiding in a shed on the property and arrested on an outstanding warrant stemming from drug charges, the Journal reported.
The following day, investigators spoke with the friend who was present when Weeks delivered the baby in January. She reportedly told them Weeks refused medical assistance while giving birth, but noted that Weeks “insisted on stopping and having a cigarette” during the delivery process, per East Idaho News. She added that Weeks was “not really showing any interest in [the baby] after the head came out.”
When the baby was delivered, the friend and the child’s father reportedly performed “rescue breaths” and tried to resuscitate the baby for about an hour after birth, but the efforts were futile and the child died.
Toxicology tests performed on the child reportedly came back positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine.
A forensic search of Weeks’ phone allegedly showed that she was worried about going to jail if she sought medical attention for her pregnancy.
“Idk wtf to do bro… and if they turn me in at the hospital, I’m f—— going to prison probably cuz I have warrants,” she wrote in one such message, per East Idaho News.
Weeks was booked into the Bannock County Jail and is currently being held on $50,000 bond. She is due to appear before Magistrate Judge R. Todd Garbett on Oct. 5.
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