MIAMI _ The likelihood of finding missing baby Andrew Caballeiro alive grew weaker Thursday when the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said it didn't believe the mysterious blonde woman seen near the family's van had anything to do with the infant's disappearance.
On Wednesday evening, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said he held out hope Andrew was still alive after a witness told deputies that a blonde woman was seen near the white van that the child's father was believed to have traveled in before killing himself in the woods a few miles off Interstate 75. If true, the sheriff said directing his statement to the unidentified woman, "Please come forward."
But by Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office said the timeline suggested that the woman, if she were at the scene, was there several hours after Ernesto Caballeiro, 49, killed himself.
"He was likely deceased by the time that woman was seen near the van," said lead Pasco County Sheriff's spokeswoman Amanda Hunter. "Given the timeline, we don't believe her to be involved."
Little Andrew, born just last week, became the target of a massive statewide manhunt on Tuesday after police discovered the bodies of his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother at Caballeiro's Redland home just northwest of Homestead. Police suspect Caballeiro shot them with a high-powered rifle, then fled north toward Pasco with Andrew.
Miami-Dade police were led to the home after the brother of Andrew's mother called police because he'd been unable to reach his sister.
Detectives knew almost immediately that Caballeiro was the killer, according to law enforcement sources, because surveillance video showed him arriving home just after 10 a.m. Tuesday, then leaving about an hour later. And the footage appeared to show him holding his AR-15 rifle and the newborn child.
The women killed were identified Wednesday as Arlety Garcia-Valdes, 40, Andrew's mother; his grandmother Isabela Valdes, 60; and his great-grandmother Lina Gonzalez, 84. Supporters of the slain women have begun fundraising for funeral costs. By Thursday afternoon, a GoFundMe page had already raised more than $13,000.
"Three generations of brave women were slain protecting the newborn's life," the page said. "Please pray with us for the safe return of baby Andrew."
By Thursday police still had not offered a motive for the killings.
Pasco deputies determined that the white van _ the subject of a statewide Amber Alert _ was parked on the side of a rural road in the town of Blanton between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday. After discovering the vehicle Wednesday, deputies scouring the wooded area with bloodhounds spotted Caballeiro's body in the woods about 50 yards from the van. He died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound.
An AR-15 was next to his body, sources say.
Inside the van, Hunter said, deputies found some cash, old receipts and a pacifier. There was no child's car seat and no sign of any digging tool, like a shovel, Hunter said. Holding out hope that the pacifier belonged to Andrew, deputies directed a bloodhound to the object to try to pick up a scent. None was found, leaving Pasco deputies to believe that Andrew likely didn't make it to Pasco with his father.
"There was no indication the baby was in Pasco," Hunter said.
