Wythe County deputies started out 2011 with a disturbing discovery.
After getting a tip, authorities found a dead newborn inside a cave in January.
This story is our sixth of the year.
The newborn baby was found in a dark, small cave along a East Lee Highway in the Grahams Forge community near the entrance of a park.
"It's shocking to the community. Shocking to the officers who had to work this case. It's a very difficult case," said Wythe County Sheriff Doug King.
Investigators said, Ashley Meadows, the mother and the child's grandmother, and Twila Meadows put the baby in that cave.
They were each charged with concealing a body and child abuse.
Investigators got the tip and information about the newborn from social services and found the dead baby.
Sheriff Doug King called the discovery simply gut-wrenching.
"If you conceal a body, you are concealing facts and the truth," King said.
Ashley Meadows, the mother of a baby, pleaded guilty to felony child abuse in November.
Prosecutors say Meadows gave birth to the baby in her bathroom, but without the proper medical care, the newborn died not long after.
Ashley Meadows will be sentenced in January.
She could get up to five years.
The grandmother, Twila Meadows, still has charges pending for hiding the baby in the cave.
After getting a tip, authorities found a dead newborn inside a cave in January.
This story is our sixth of the year.
The newborn baby was found in a dark, small cave along a East Lee Highway in the Grahams Forge community near the entrance of a park.
"It's shocking to the community. Shocking to the officers who had to work this case. It's a very difficult case," said Wythe County Sheriff Doug King.
Investigators said, Ashley Meadows, the mother and the child's grandmother, and Twila Meadows put the baby in that cave.
They were each charged with concealing a body and child abuse.
Investigators got the tip and information about the newborn from social services and found the dead baby.
Sheriff Doug King called the discovery simply gut-wrenching.
"If you conceal a body, you are concealing facts and the truth," King said.
Ashley Meadows, the mother of a baby, pleaded guilty to felony child abuse in November.
Prosecutors say Meadows gave birth to the baby in her bathroom, but without the proper medical care, the newborn died not long after.
Ashley Meadows will be sentenced in January.
She could get up to five years.
The grandmother, Twila Meadows, still has charges pending for hiding the baby in the cave.
