Mother found dead 'at home of woman who allegedly lured her and her newborn baby there after posing as a child protection worker… and then told neighbors the child was hers'

  • Samantha Fleming and daughter Serenity were last seen in Anderson, Indiana on April 5 
  • The three-week-old infant was discovered unharmed in the Gary, Indiana home where the body of a young woman was discovered 
  • The alleged kidnapper was not at the home, which had a nursery 
  • Alleged kidnapper's neighbor said the woman had told her she was pregnant with twins but that one had died during birth 
  • The child was in the care of the alleged kidnapper's sister when police arrived after Fleming's wallet was found nearby  

By Anneta Konstantinides For Dailymail.com

Published: 11:02 EST, 18 April 2015 | Updated: 12:33 EST, 18 April 2015

Police have discovered a body they believe to be a young Indiana woman who was reported missing with her newborn daughter weeks ago in a city 180 miles away from their home. 

Samantha Fleming and her newborn daughter Serenity were last seen in Anderson on April 5, when they left with a woman who said she was from Indiana's Department of Child Services, according to police. 

The three-week-old infant was discovered unharmed at a home in Gary on Friday and will be returned to relatives. 

Mother and child were last seen in Anderson on April 5, when they left with a woman who said she was from Indiana's Department of Child Services, according to police

Police have discovered a body they believe to be Indiana woman Samantha Fleming (left), who was reported missing with her newborn daughter Serenity (right) weeks ago in a city 180 miles away

In the same home, police found a body doused with bleach, wrapped in plastic and stuffed in a plastic storage bin, according to Lt. Thomas Pawlak. 

Police were led to Gary after Fleming's cell phone signal was picked up in the city, where the young mother's wallet was also found. 

Fleming was reported missing by her boyfriend.

According to police, Fleming left the home they shared with her daughter Serenity after the woman who claimed to be from Child Protective Services told the new mother she had to appear at a hearing.

Police said the woman told Fleming the hearing was at Lake Superior Court in Hammond, which is 13 miles from the home where the body was discovered.

The infant was handed over to police by a woman who is believed to be the alleged kidnapper's sister, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

Police have not released the name of the woman.  

Pawlak said the woman had arrived at the house of the alleged kidnapper, who was not there, to pick up items for the baby. The house had a nursery. 

'It appears that she had been planning this,' Pawlak said. 'There was everything you would buy for a new baby. A crib, changing table, diaper bag, carrier, new clothes.' 

According to police, the alleged kidnapper had asked her sister to care for the baby she was passing off as her own.

That is the same story one neighbor of the woman said she was also told. 

The body was found on Friday in the 1900 block of Cleveland Street in Gary, Indiana. Police found a nursery inside the home and a neighbor said the owner of the house had said she was pregnant with twins 

The body was found on Friday in the 1900 block of Cleveland Street in Gary, Indiana. Police found a nursery inside the home and a neighbor said the owner of the house had said she was pregnant with twins 

The neighbor told Chicago Tribune she was friends with the alleged kidnapper, who had told her she was pregnant with twins.

The 36-year-old woman then told her neighbor around Easter that one of the twins had died after she had given birth, and that the other child was in the hospital with jaundice.

When the neighbor eventually saw the woman with the child, she said she found the baby to be 'lighter-skinned' than she expected. The woman also had a bandage on her hand. 

The alleged kidnapper asked her neighbor to watch her house because she was going out of town.

Just days before the woman left, the neighbor said she saw her going back and forth from her house to garage and carrying small plastic grocery bags.

The neighbor said she and her friend had been texting regularly since the woman left. 

But when she texted the alleged kidnapper after she saw police enter her home on Friday, the messages stopped. 

The alleged kidnapper was located at a hospital in Texas. Police said she is a person of interest but has not yet been arrested. 

Pawlak believes the alleged kidnapper was very familiar with Fleming. 

'She knew a lot about this mother,' he said. 'Enough to convince her she was with CPS.'   

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