EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Investigators searched the woods Friday for three children a day after their mother's body was found with a fetus cut from her womb -- perhaps with scissors.
A 26-year-old woman who police say was with the children when they were last seen Monday was taken into custody. Police said she held a funeral earlier this week for what she claimed was her stillborn child. Investigators are analyzing those remains to see if they are the stolen fetus.
SEARCHING FOR CHILDREN
"Our main concern at this point is trying to find the children alive," State Police Capt. Craig Koehler said.
Dozens of searchers scoured Holten State Park in East St. Louis for Tunstall's children, ages 1, 2 and 7.
East St. Louis Police Chief James Mister said the boyfriend of the woman in custody reported that she told him during the funeral that she killed a pregnant woman to get the fetus.
Tunstall's body was found in a vacant lot Thursday.
An autopsy showed that Tunstall's death was "very graphic and very brutal," said Ace Hart, a deputy coroner. She died of a wound to the abdomen caused by a sharp object, possibly a pair of scissors that was found near her body, he said.
"We're thinking it's scissors," Hart said.
A 26-year-old woman who police say was with the children when they were last seen Monday was taken into custody. Police said she held a funeral earlier this week for what she claimed was her stillborn child. Investigators are analyzing those remains to see if they are the stolen fetus.
SEARCHING FOR CHILDREN
"Our main concern at this point is trying to find the children alive," State Police Capt. Craig Koehler said.
Dozens of searchers scoured Holten State Park in East St. Louis for Tunstall's children, ages 1, 2 and 7.
East St. Louis Police Chief James Mister said the boyfriend of the woman in custody reported that she told him during the funeral that she killed a pregnant woman to get the fetus.
Tunstall's body was found in a vacant lot Thursday.
An autopsy showed that Tunstall's death was "very graphic and very brutal," said Ace Hart, a deputy coroner. She died of a wound to the abdomen caused by a sharp object, possibly a pair of scissors that was found near her body, he said.
"We're thinking it's scissors," Hart said.
