Father Sought in Texas Infant Killing

A couple out for a wildlife walk along a Texas roadway on Tuesday found a dead infant lying face-down in the grass, wearing only a diaper. A car seat was found about 30 feet from the baby boy, which apparently had been thrown from a vehicle.

(ABC)

Galveston police are now hunting for the child's father, 21-year-old Travis Mullis, who was last seen with the baby around 6 a.m. Tuesday, about three hours before the couple made a frantic 911 call to report their discovery.

The state medical examiner's office ruled Wednesday that the 3-month-old had been killed by blunt force trauma to the head. The child was likely dead prior to being thrown from a vehicle, they said.

"We're looking at every place [the father] could possibly be," Lt. Jorge Trevino, spokesman for the Galveston police, told ABC News.

Trevino says that Mullis, who goes by the nickname "T.J." and recently dyed his hair blond, is likely driving a silver 2002 Hyundai Accent with Texas license plates and duct tape on the passenger-side handle.

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"He's a 'person of interest,'" Trevino said. "Other than the fact that he was the last person to see the child, we have nothing to hang our hat on to say he killed the baby."

While the child's mother has not said anything publicly about the case, she has been cooperating with police, Trevino said. She was at home Tuesday morning at the couple's trailer in Alvin, about 30 miles from where the baby was found.

"She came in and she was interviewed and cooperative and gave us quite a bit of information," Trevino said.

Galveston authorities, with help from the FBI and other Texas law enforcement agencies, hope that the public will help locate Mullis. They are tracking cell phone records and credit card transactions and fielding tips, but so far the investigation has provided few concrete leads.

This latest incident comes on the heels of the October discovery by fisherman of a 2-year-old girl in a plastic box on a sandbar in Galveston. The sheriff's office led that investigation, naming the child "Baby Grace" and reaching out to the public for help in identifying her.