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The baby was
reported missing by her father on Thursday afternoon when he
arrived from work to find the mother, his girlfriend Laura
Abarca-Nogueda, 27, slain inside the dwelling in a case that
quickly gained national media attention.
The suspect was identified by police in Wichita on Monday as
Yesenia Sesmas, 34, a Dallas resident who police say was known
to the mother for a few years, although authorities declined to
characterize their relationship.
Police said Sesmas is originally from Texas, spent some time in
Wichita and moved back to Texas over the past few months.
Wichita police homicide detective Lieutenant Todd Ojile told
reporters at a news conference that an anonymous tip helped lead
investigators to Sesmas' home in Dallas, some 360 miles south of
Wichita. The baby was found alive and safe and the suspect was
taken into custody before dawn on Saturday.
The infant, examined at a Dallas-area hospital and given a clean
bill of health, was reunited with her family hours later.
Police detectives have since determined that Sesmas had faked
pregnancy during the past several months in order to claim the
kidnapped child as her own, although her reasons for doing so
remained under investigation, according to Ojile.
She is accused of traveling to Wichita to kill Abarca-Nogueda,
abducting baby Sophia and returning to Dallas with the child.
Three other people living at the suspect's house - her
boyfriend, her son and a niece - were briefly detained for
questioning and released. They have not been charged.
Sesmas was being held in a Dallas jail on a felony warrant for
first-degree murder and kidnapping, and was expected to be
extradited to Kansas soon, Ojile said.
The infant's father, whose named has not been publicly revealed,
was not considered a suspect, police said.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Dan
Grebler)
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