Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference this afternoon explaining that they are searching for a mother who they believe is responsible for killing her 1-year-old boy.
They now believe she may be trying to take her own life.
The woman is identified as Neha Patel, and detectives say that her husband, Rasesh, had been trying to find her since Thursday morning. He had been calling their home trying to locate her and their baby, Ishan. After calling friends, family and riding to Ocala and Tampa General looking for her, Mr. Patel call the police and reported her missing.
However, at 2 a.m. this morning, Neha came home, handed her husband the dead boy wrapped in a blanket and told him that she would be dead by the end of the day.
According to Sheriff Judd, the young boy appeared to have been dead for some time and had signs of significant trauma. Mr. Patel called 911 and that’s when Neha left again.
Mrs. Patel, 32, has been suffering from postpartum depression and is suicidal, Judd said.
In the past, Patel has said that she would like to die in the Smoky Mountains and police think she might be heading in that direction because they know her car was seen at Tampa International Airport, and later she used her credit card at a gas station.
