Jessica McClure Morales, the woman once known worldwide as Baby Jessica, was arrested Saturday night after a reported domestic disturbance at her Midland County home.
Deputies with the Midland County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the area of South County Road 1140 just before 10 p.m. on April 11 and took Morales, 40, into custody at the scene, arrest records show. She was charged with assault causing bodily injury involving family violence and later released from the Midland County Detention Center after posting bond. The amount was not disclosed.
The arrest puts a new spotlight on a name that has echoed through American news for nearly four decades. Morales became widely known as Baby Jessica in 1987, when she was 18 months old and fell into an eight-inch-wide well at her aunt’s home in Midland. She remained trapped approximately 22 feet underground during a rescue effort that lasted nearly 60 hours.
That effort became one of the most closely watched rescues of its era. Crews drilled a parallel shaft and then a horizontal tunnel through rock, using specialized techniques that included waterjet cutting, before paramedic Robert O’Donnell crawled through the cramped passage to reach her. Morales was lifted to safety and rushed to a hospital, and she later underwent multiple surgeries for injuries sustained while trapped.
What happened Saturday is still only partly explained. Midland County said it may take up to 10 days to process a request for the arrest affidavit, the document expected to spell out what led to the charge. Until then, the public record shows only that a woman whose childhood rescue became international news is now facing a criminal case of her own.
