Amber Alert Issued for 1-Year-Old Missing from Ansonia After Mom is Found Dead

Connecticut State Police have issued an Amber Alert for a missing 1-year-old baby girl after responding to a home in Ansonia, Connecticut, Monday night and finding the baby’s mother dead and no sign of the child, according to police.

The AMBER Alert for 1-year-old Vanessa Morales was issued Wednesday afternoon. Police said they initially issued a Silver Alert rather than an AmberAlert because they do not have a description of a vehicle, person the baby might be with or a potential destination.

Officers said relatives last saw her on Friday night.

Vanessa has brown hair and brown eyes. No information was available on what Venessa might be wearing. 

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled the woman's death a homicide and said the cause of death is blunt-force trauma. 

Ansonia Police said Wednesday that they are greatly concerned for Venessa's safety and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

Police responded to a home on Myrtle Avenue around 1 p.m. Monday after getting a request for a welfare check when the woman did not show up for work or call in sick. When the officers went to the home, they said they received no answer.

Later in the evening, officers were called back to the home around 7:30 p.m. after getting another request for a welfare check. Police said the victim’s family called them to report they had not heard from her.

When officers arrived to the home, they said they forced their way in and found the woman dead. There was no sign of her 1-year-old daughter, Venessa Morales, police said.

Police have not released the woman's name.

Family members told investigators that Venessa was always in the home, police said.

Authorities said they have spoken with the child’s father and he is cooperating with the investigation.

No family members police have spoken with have any idea where the baby is, police said.

State police and the FBI are helping with the search for Vanessa. Police said they are following leads and that their priority in the case is to find Venessa.

“It’s extremely important based on the conditions that if anyone is outside that we get them inside but it’s more important in this case because we don’t know where she is at all. We don’t know if she’s outside or inside, if she’s safe with someone. We just want to locate her and make sure that she’s safe and we can get her back home to family,” Lt. Patrick Lynch, of Ansonia Police, said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Ansonia Police Department at 203-735-1885 or the FBI at 203-503-5555.