7-Month-Old Baby Found Dead After Oklahoma Amber Alert, Police Say

The body of a baby believed to be the subject of an Oklahoma Amber Alert has been found dead, officials say.

An Amber Alert for 7-month-old Jody Minjarez was issued on Wednesday, more than two weeks after he was taken by his father, Victor Minjarez, following an altercation between Minjarez and the baby’s mother, according to Norman Police. Later that day, Norman Police announced that they had found the body of a child believed to be Jody.

On Feb. 19, Jody’s mother, whose name was not released, told Norman Police that she had been assaulted by Minjarez, who left with the baby, according to Norman Police. At the time, however, she believed Minjarez would return with the baby, as he had “taken him in the past for approximately five days before returning him,” according to Norman Police.

Then, on Feb. 28, a friend of the woman received a text message, apparently from Minjarez, saying that she would never see her child again. Search efforts continued and intensified, up to and including a March 7 Amber Alert. Minjarez, who had also stolen a car, was found in Oklahoma City and taken into custody several hours later. Authorities also discovered the body of a child, believed to be Jody, in the residence where Minjarez was located, police say.

Minjarez was booked on March 8 at the Oklahoma County Jail, on charges of first-degree murder and desecrating a human corpse, according to jail records.