CADOGAN, Pa. — Just days after the horrific discovery of at least three dead babies inside a house on Oak Avenue in Cadogan, neighbors told Channel 11 they’re grieving and in disbelief.
Jessica Mauthe remains behind bars at the Armstrong County jail after state police said she admitted to giving birth to the babies, wrapping them in towels and plastic bags, and placing them in totes.
“The whole neighborhood is upset about it. A lot of people are looking to adopt babies. She made poor choices, that’s for sure,” said Carmen Felix, a longtime neighbor.
Crews have been at the house for the last few days, clearing it out. Mauthe was living there with her two older children, renting the home from property owner Brent Flanigan. On Tuesday, he gave Channel 11 permission to go inside and see firsthand where this horror unfolded.
Flanigan said he’s been in the process of evicting Mauthe for months after she stopped paying rent.
“After her dad passed, the money stopped coming in. I don’t know that she’s ever physically paid me the rent. She would coax churches into paying the rent,” Flanigan said.
He said two weeks after deputies went to evict Mauthe in mid-August, he got a call from animal control, saying there were cats left behind, trapped in the house.
On September 13, he and his workers went inside and found the unthinkable in a bedroom closet: the body of a baby.
“We went into start cleaning, and that’s when we found the bag,” Flanigan said. “[It] was wrapped up in 3-4 different garbage bags, tied tight. The smell was horrendous. We opened it up, and there were towels in there. My worker and I, we peeled the towels back with a stick, and there was just rotting, decomposing…”
Mauthe told troopers she heard the baby making several noises from the toilet after she gave birth, before wrapping it in towels and bags and placing it in a closet. Court documents say two more infants were found dead inside totes in the attic. Flanigan is thankful his workers didn’t overlook them.
“Since they found it and pointed it out to me, that’s why she’s where she’s at,” Flanigan said.
“This may be a cry for help, doing this. We just don’t know. We’re all upset about it, but we don’t know. Only she knows,” Felix said.
Channel 11 asked the Armstrong County District Attorney if there could be more charges filed or possibly more bodies. We were told this is an ongoing investigation and that more information will be shared at a later time.
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