Pennsylvania State Police have arrested a 39-year-old woman after the remains of three infants were discovered inside a home from which she was recently evicted.
Jessica M. Mauthe of Cadogan Township was taken into custody over the weekend, as reported by PennLive News.
She currently faces one count of criminal homicide and one count of abuse of a corpse related to only one of the infants.
Authorities say that additional charges are expected as the investigation into the other two infants continues.
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| Jessica Mauthe |
The investigation started on Friday, September 13, 2025, after police got a 911 call from a landlord on Oak Avenue.
She explained that while she was cleaning her property, after evicting the former tenant, she noticed a strong foul smell coming from a closet upstairs.
When she looked inside the closet, she found a trash bag containing a towel which was wrapped around "something decomposing".
The landlord explained that she had evicted Mauthe, the previous tenant, on August 14 and changed the locks on August 30.
However, while she was preparing the property for new tenants, she made the disturbing discovery.
The Armstrong County Coroner was dispatched to the scene and they confirmed the bag contained the remains of a deceased infant.
According to CBS News, this confirmation prompted a full search of the property by state police.
During the search, crime scene investigators found two plastic totes in the attic.
One tote reportedly had a black trash bag containing an infant wrapped in a towel. The second tote contained a bucket inside a trash bag, which also had the remains of a third infant wrapped in a towel.
Mauthe was quickly located by police and brought in for questioning.
During the interview, she allegedly admitted to investigators that she had given birth to all three infants.
She reportedly told investigators that the first child which was discovered in the closet, was her most recent baby.
She said she gave birth to the infant about a year earlier while sitting on a toilet inside the home.
According to police report, "The child remained in the toilet for several minutes after she gave birth, and during this time, she could hear the child making noises."
"Mauthe removed the child from the toilet, wrapped a towel around the infant's entire body, where it remained until it stopped making noises," said the police in the arrest affidavit.
She then reportedly placed the child inside several garbage bags and left it in the closet where it was later found.
Mauthe also allegedly confessed to giving birth to the two other children found in the attic earlier on.
She admitted to wrapping them in towels, placing them in bags, and storing their bodies in the attic totes, as per Law&Crime.
The disturbing allegations have shaken the small, close-knit community of Cadogan Township.
Neighbors have expresssed both feelings of shock and sorrow, especially for Mauthe’s two surviving children, ages 6 and 8.
"It's just evil," one neighbor told local reporters. "How can you plop babies in the toilet?"
Another neighbour, Elizabeth Germy, said she smelled something unusual in the bedroom upstairs while she helped the landlord look for pets.
"It smelled very funny," Germy said. "To know I was so close to those dead babies repulses me."
Armstrong County District Attorney Katie Charlton confirmed that autopsies were performed on Sunday, September 14, 2025.
The results from the two infants found in the attic are pending, and the outcome will determine the full scope of charges.
"Additional charges will be filed if appropriate," Charlton stated.
Mauthe is currently being held without bond at the Armstrong County Jail and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for later this month.
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