Cops Find Dead Fetus In Alleged Shoplifter’s Bag

A seventeen-year-old girl has been taken to Bellevue Hospital for a psychological examination after what seemed like a routine shoplifting bust turned into a scene out of a horror movie. While searching the minor’s bag at the flagship store for Victoria’s Secret in Midtown, security guards allegedly discovered a dead fetus, prompting plenty of shock, outrage and media coverage almost immediately.

According to The New York Daily News, the seventeen-year-old in question is Tiona Rodriguez. Details are still fuzzy on exactly what happened, but apparently, she suffered a miscarriage on Wednesday and was unsure of what to do with the fetus. So, she dropped it in a plastic bag. The next day, she went shopping with her friend Francis Estevez and bizarrely brought the bag with her. During their trip to Victoria’s Secret, the girls allegedly decided to steal some sexy underwear and promptly got caught by the security guard, who phoned police and later discovered the missing merchandise in the same bag as the dead fetus.

Not a ton is known about Rodriguez. She reportedly has a healthy two-year-old child and lives with her mother in the Marcy Houses. Some of her neighbors are reportedly saying she hid the pregnancy from pretty much everyone. An autopsy will be conducted in the next few days on the fetus to determine how many weeks along it was and to verify Rodriguez’s story that she miscarried.

I’m all for prosecuting shoplifters, but clearly, this particular theft was some kind of cry for help. Hopefully, the girl will get all of the psychological treatment she needs at Bellevue Hospital, ideally to return to society as a more mature girl with better coping mechanisms and decision making skills in place.

You can check out a news story on yesterday’s events below…