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Couple charged after conflicting stories about missing 9-week-old baby

Posted at 12:18 PM, Oct 09, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-09 12:18:00-04

SARASOTA, Fla. — Officials in Florida are trying to locate a 9-week-old baby as his parents are being held in a South Carolina jail awaiting extradition on child neglect charges.

Chance Walsh has been missing since Sept. 9. The child’s grandmother called police last month because she was concerned about the baby, which prompted a multistate investigation.

According to the arrest documents obtained by WFTS, the parents gave conflicting accounts of what happened to the baby, telling one person he was killed in a car accident and another that they gave him to a stranger they met in a Georgia motel.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office charged 36-year-old Joseph Walsh and 32-year-old Kristen Bury with child neglect.

During a search of the couple’s home, small amounts of blood were found on pillows, a comforter, a mattress and on the wall and door of the bathroom, according to WFTS.

The FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are helping with the investigation.