The FBI has deployed its child abduction team to help authorities in Austin, Texas, investigate the case of a missing mother and her newborn baby.
Heidi Broussard, 33, has not been seen since she dropped off her son, 6, at Cowan Elementary School in Austin early Thursday morning, before she left with her infant daughter, Margot Carey, police said. Investigators believe that the mother and daughter went back to their apartment complex before their disappearance, according to Brad Herries, a detective with the Austin Police Department.
The FBI has now deployed its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment, or CARD, team to assist Texas authorities in finding Broussard and the now 3-week-old baby, Herries said Tuesday.
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“To be perfectly honest with you, this case is unique in that we don’t have a person of interest right now,” Herries said. “We’re exploring every avenue that we have and every possibility.”
Shane Carey, Heidi’s boyfriend and Margot’s father, said the couple also have a six-year-old son together. Carey told NBC affiliate KXAN Monday that their son’s school never called when Heidi didn’t show up in the afternoon.
Carey said he came home Thursday afternoon and saw Broussard’s car, but she wasn’t inside their apartment. The boyfriend said he wasn’t initially worried because Broussard often visits a friend in the same complex, before he called police at 7 p.m.
The father also said that he believed if Broussard left on her own, she would have told someone. Carey explained that all Broussard’s belongings, including her identification and the baby’s diaper bag, were still in the apartment.
“If she left, everything is here,” Carey told NBC News Tuesday. “And she would tell her friend if she left so that’s scaring me more.”
Herries declined to answer questions Tuesday about whether there had been previous domestic abuse reports from Broussard’s apartment. The detective noted that authorities currently do not have reason to believe that Margot or her mother have been harmed.
“It’s possible that Heidi and Margot have left on their own accord,” Herries said. “It’s also possible that there may be something nefarious or foul play involved. To be honest, we don’t know the answer to that question.”
Security cameras showed that Broussard was wearing a purple sweatshirt when she was at Cowan Elementary. Broussard is 5 feet, 3 inches tall, 150 pounds with long, dark hair with highlights.
Police asked the public to continue to call in tips with any information on Broussard and Margot’s whereabouts over the last five days.
