Heidi Broussard and her newborn daughter, Margot Carey, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in December 2019. The young mother reportedly dropped her son at elementary school before going missing. This triggered a widespread search for the duo.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that detectives found Broussard’s body inside a duffel bag in the trunk of a car parked outside her friend Magen Fieramusca’s Houston home. She had been strangled to death. Authorities also safely rescued the victim’s daughter, Margot, who was inside the house with Fieramusca.
Police claimed that Fieramusca tried to pass the infant as her own child after having a pregnancy for months. Both women had been friends for more than a decade, said the victim’s fiancé Shane Carey, as per CNN.
Heidi Broussard’s murder case, explored
Austin mother Heidi Broussard’s 2019 murder case is both tragic and bizarre, given that her long-time friend Magen Fieramusca was behind the crime. According to the Austin American-Statesman, both women had been friends for more than a decade at the time of the incident. In fact, Fieramusca even convinced Broussard that they were both pregnant at the same time.
However, on December 12, 2019, Broussard and her then-two-week-old daughter, Margot Carey, went missing. The 33-year-old mother reportedly dropped her son off at Cowan Elementary in South Austin that morning before disappearing. She was reported missing the same day.
The outlet reported that a search for the mother-daughter duo continued for over a week. Houston authorities eventually found Broussard’s body in a duffel bag in the trunk of a car outside Fieramusca’s home on December 20, 2019. Inside, they found the victim’s friend and the baby, who was unharmed.
Broussard reportedly died of “ligature strangulation.” The suspect had reportedly strangled her “with a leash and with her hand.”
According to CNN, authorities arrested Magen Fieramusca over a week after they discovered Heidi Broussard’s body. She initially faced kidnapping and evidence tampering charges. They later charged her with capital murder.
In February 2023, Fieramusca admitted to killing Broussard and pleaded guilty to murder. Following this, state district Judge Selena Alvarenga reported and sentenced the killer to 55 years in prison.