Missing baby Margot reunites with dad after mom's murder

An Austin mom was found strangled to death last week. Her baby was found alive.

December 24, 2019, 12:53 PM

After tragedy, a Christmas reunion.

Margot, the baby daughter of slain Austin mom Heidi Broussard, has been brought home to her father, days after the young mom's body was found and her friend was arrested for kidnapping.

Broussard's fiance and Margot's father, Shane Carey, took a selfie of their reunion and posted it to social media Tuesday, saying: "Baby Margot is home."

Shane Carey and his daughter, Margot. Carey posted the photo to Facebook on Dec. 24, 2019.
Courtesy Shane Carey

Broussard and Margot had been missing since Dec. 12 when Broussard was discovered strangled to death near Houston on Dec. 19, according to officials.

A 3-week-old girl was found alive and healthy at the scene. Child Protective Services said on Monday that the baby was reunited with her family.

"I wish both of them could've came back," Broussard's friend, Katrina Collicott, told ABC News at a Monday night vigil. "I hope she looks like Heidi when she grows up."

Police released this photo of Heidi Broussard and her daughter Margot Carey after they were reported missing.
Austin Police Department

Broussard, 33, also leaves behind a 6-year-old son.

Broussard's friend, Magen Fieramusca, has been arrested for kidnapping. According to an official briefed on the probe, police are investigating whether Fieramusca, 33, plotted to take Margot as her own child.

Collicott said Broussard and Fieramusca met at church camp and "had been friends since they were young," calling Fieramusca's arrest "the biggest surprise of my life."

"You call someone a friend for so long, then this happens ... it's disgusting," she said.

People attend a vigil at Garrison Park in Austin Monday night, Dec. 23, 2019, for Heidi Broussard, whose body was found in Houston.
KVUE

"I want to know why she did that to her closest friend," Broussard's friend, Carli Laughlin, told ABC News. "I want to know, why her."

"I'm glad that everyone came out," Laughlin said at the vigil. "For [Broussard] and her family, especially her children."

People attend a vigil at Garrison Park in Austin Monday night, Dec. 23, 2019, for Heidi Broussard, whose body was found in Houston.
KVUE

Fieramusca had allegedly been acting like she was pregnant and telling people that she was expecting a child, the official briefed on the probe told ABC News. Authorities are now trying to determine whether she was, in fact, pregnant, the official said. Baby registries allegedly connected to the suspect were found online, the official said.

Fieramusca was booked at the Travis County Jail Friday on two charges of kidnapping and one charge of tampering with evidence with intent to impair a human corpse.

Additional charges are possible, police said Friday.

ABC News' Kaylee Hartung and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.