The Stolen Cradle

Theresa Andrews, twenty-three, and her husband Jon were expecting their first child in Ravenna, Ohio, in the fall of 2000. Michelle Bica, thirty-nine, lived nearby with her husband Thomas. Bica had told her husband and friends that she was pregnant, but it was not true.

The Andrewses had a Jeep for sale, and Bica called Theresa about buying it. On September 27, 2000, Theresa went to Bica’s home and was never seen alive again. Bica shot her and took her baby, then told her husband she had given birth. She showed off the newborn as her own son while Jon Andrews and the community searched for Theresa. Phone records tied the call about the Jeep to Bica, and her account of a hospital birth fell apart when checked.

On October 2, 2000, when investigators returned to her home to question her again, Bica shot herself. Inside the house, investigators found the baby asleep in a crib, healthy and unharmed. Theresa’s body was buried in a shallow grave under gravel in the garage. The boy, named Oscar, was returned to his father, and DNA tests confirmed his identity.