Baby’s body found in bag of concrete in Fresno canal

The body of a baby buried in a bag of cracked concrete was found this week in a Fresno canal, police said.

The baby’s mother, Stephanie Saylor, and her live-in boyfriend, Joseph Castro, were arrested Thursday on unrelated charges, but they told authorities they got rid of the baby’s body because they did not know what else to do with it, Fresno police Sgt. Jaime Rios said.

The bag of concrete contained bones, a skull and some tissue, he said.

“It’s always traumatizing to see something like that,” Rios said, especially since the body was a baby.

An autopsy confirmed the body was an infant’s, but details such as the gender and age have not been determined, he said. Detectives also have not been able to establish the baby’s cause of death, but the investigation is ongoing.

Police did not find the remains until a local news station called to say it had received an anonymous tip about the bag.

Saylor reportedly told police she panicked when she gave birth to the stillborn baby in October and hid the body in her closet, using clothes to cover the body.

A few weeks later, Castro found the baby’s body in the closet when Saylor had gone to Disneyland with her children -- ages 2, 6 and 8 -- Rios said.

He reportedly enlisted a friend to help him conceal the baby with trash inside a plastic container, which they set next to dumpsters.

But after the container was never picked up, the pair placed the baby in a bag, filled it with concrete, put it back into the container and dumped it near the canal, Rios said.

Someone reportedly took the container but not the bag containing the baby. Castro’s friend returned and nudged the bag into the dry canal, Rios said.

Saylor and Castro were taken into custody on suspicion of parole and probation violations, he said. Rios said the couple had history of methamphetamine use.

Saylor’s children were turned over to the care of the Department of Children and Family Services.