COLLIN COUNTY, Texas — The Collin County Sheriff's Department arrested Roland and Donna Grabowski late Saturday following an investigation into the disappearance of their 3-week-old child.
Sheriff Jim Skinner confirmed to WFAA that the child was found in a five gallon bucket of tar.
The Princeton couple faces multiple felonies including tampering with or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair human corpse, abusing a corpse without legal authority, and abandoning or endangering a child.
Skinner tells WFAA that the initial call into authorities came as a "suspicious circumstances" call. When sheriff detectives arrived at the couple's home they were not there. Cell phone records showed the couple had traveled to Dallas.
According to arrest warrants, the Grawbowski's told "numerous lies" while detectives questioned them. The couple initially told investigators the child was being watched by a family friend, according to the warrant.
"There was an attempt to deceive us as to what had happened and the whereabouts of their child Micah," said Skinner.
According to the arrest warrant, the couple allegedly tried to get a friend to cover for them writing in a text "I need you to say your baby is ours. Quick in and out. They just need to see."
Donna Grabowski also told detectives that Micah was born at Medical Center of McKinney but the hospital had no record of the mother or any live birth.
Detectives arrested Roland and Donna Grabowski late Saturday and details surrounding the child's disappearance began to emerge. The warrant said the couple told friends the infant died of SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
"They took the child and wrapped him in a blanket and submerged him into a five gallon bucket of tar and put him in a shed behind the residence," Skinner said.
Micah's body was recovered and turned over to the Collin County Medical Examiner, which will determine the official cause of death.
Roland and Donna Grawbowski were arrested on multiple felony charges, records showed, and may face more.
"I've been in this business over 30 years and I've seen a lot of crazy things but this is the first time I've found a dead infant in a bucket of tar...and hopefully the last," said Skinner.
Roland Grawbowski has a history of run-ins with the law dating to 2001 according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He was sentenced previously for aggravated sexual assault of a child, burglary of a habitation, and possession of controlled substances. Grawbowski, according to TDCJ records, is registered as a sex offender.