Kriti Mehrotra
NBC’s ‘Dateline: Abducted’ and Netflix’s ‘Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard’ chronicle a harrowing case of friendship, jealousy, betrayal, and loss. With archival tapes and in-depth interviews from detectives, friends, and family members, they both examine how the titular woman went from being a mother and fiancée to a victim in mere weeks. Thus, now, if you’re curious about the details of what transpired and who was responsible, including motives and its equally brutal aftermath, we’ve got you covered.
Heidi Broussard Was Strangled to Death
Having relocated to Austin, Texas, sometime in 2015 after spending most of her life in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Heidi Elizabeth Broussard was a waitress whom many described as a force of nature. Even though she worked at Cracker Barrel for most of her time in the new city, she was actively seeking further education and formal training to pursue her dream of becoming a Veterinary Technician. She was also engaged to Shane Carey and had given birth to their daughter, Margo, on November 26, 2019.
However, everything turned upside down on December 12, 2019. Along with her newborn daughter, 33-year-old Heidi vanished after dropping off her son – Silas Carey, whom she also shared with Shane – at school. Her vehicle, containing all of her belongings, including her wallet, identification, and Margo’s diaper bag, was at home. The only things missing were her house keys and cell phone, whereas the stuff she shared with Shane in their home seemed to be in their exact place. All these clues raised more questions than answers for her family, so the mother-daughter duo was reported missing. But alas, on December 19, 2019, it was Heidi’s remains that were recovered from the trunk of a car outside a Houston residence. Her autopsy confirmed she had been strangled to death.
Heidi Broussard Was Targeted For Her Baby
Only one person has ever been charged and arrested in Heidi Broussard’s case, and that’s her long-time friend, Magen Fieramusca. She was taken into custody a little more than a week after the recovery of this young mother’s remains and was indicted on two counts of kidnapping (for Heidi and Margo), one count of tampering with a corpse, and one count of capital murder. After all, Heidi was found in a car outside Magen’s home while 3-week-old Margo was safe inside, with Magen allegedly pretending to be her mother, as implied by her once-boyfriend.
According to an affidavit, on or about December 12, 2019, while abducting Heidi and Margo, Magen asphyxiated the two-week postpartum mother to intentionally cause her death. Furthermore, according to statements from both women’s partners, they announced their pregnancies around the same time in 2019. Yet, while Magen’s stomach did grow in the ensuing months, her live-in ex-boyfriend, Christopher Green, described it as “hard,” which he found strange. Heidi’s fiancé also told authorities that his partner had told him on December 8 or 9 that she’d heard Magen had given birth to a daughter, but they never saw any photos. It thus became evident that Magen’s motive to kidnap her friend and her newborn daughter before killing the former was to ensure Margo became hers.
Magen Fieramusca Was Convicted of Killing Heidi Broussard
When the police initially questioned Magen, as per records, she claimed she was on the beach with a cousin on December 12 while Christopher was at work in Houston. That’s when she went into labor and did not tell him, Magen claimed to the officials. She returned to their shared home the next day with a baby girl in her arms. On December 19, when detectives approached this ex-boyfriend outside a Target store, where he’d just finished shopping for baby clothes and formula, they showed him a picture of Margo, to which he responded, “That’s the baby at my house.”
As if all this was not enough, before arresting Magen, authorities had also delved into her online activities, only to unveil some disturbing searches. She’d not only deactivated her Facebook account on December 17 and searched “reasons for Amber Alert” and “Amber Alert issued Austin” on December 12, but she’d also looked up “bodies found in Austin, Texas” two days later and some form of “Heidi Broussard” at least 160 times over the period of a month. CCTV footage, phone records, and witness statements also implicated her, with her motive coming across as wanting Margo all to herself. In the end, on February 2, 2023, Magen pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and was subsequently sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Read More: Where is Magen Fieramusca Now?
You must be logged in to post a comment.