A New Mexico mother of 15, who allegedly faked her own death after pleading guilty to child and animal abuse charges, has been arrested in Colorado following her husband's death.
Martha Crouch, 58, was apprehended in Walsenburg, Colorado, on Thursday by Huerfano County Sheriff's deputies. This comes after the woman disappeared from her New Mexico home in 2021.
The arrest took place after officials responded to a trailer home in Walsenburg, where they found 62-year-old Timothy Crouch dead on his front lawn. According to local outlet KRDO, Timothy reportedly collapsed due to a medical emergency. When the coroner attempted to enter the trailer to conduct an investigation, she was denied access and informed by residents that Timothy had extensive health issues and died outside, not inside the home.
The following day, authorities were asked to conduct a welfare check at the same home regarding a juvenile and several special needs adults who were reportedly living in the trailer. During the welfare check, deputies discovered that Timothy Crouch was married to Martha Crouch.
Martha Crouch had an outstanding felony warrant for arrest in New Mexico for violating her probation on child abuse charges and subsequently disappearing. Timothy Crouch was a co-defendant in her child abuse case, according to authorities.
In 2019, Martha Crouch pleaded guilty to child and animal abuse charges. She later received a plea deal on one felony charge. The accusations against her included beating her children with kitchen utensils, chaining one child to a bed, allegedly beating a pregnant 14-year-old daughter so severely that she miscarried, and shooting one child's dog as punishment. Martha Crouch was also accused of boiling puppies in front of her children before reaching a plea deal in 2019.
Upon returning to the Colorado trailer armed with a search warrant, officials from the sheriff's office were initially denied entry by Martha Crouch's adult child, Kathrin Crouch. Kathrin claimed that her mother had died years ago and that one of their siblings had been missing for approximately three years.
However, the sheriff's office proceeded to enter the home and found neither children nor Martha Crouch. They did, however, discover a pair of dentures in the bathroom, old medicine bottles prescribed to Martha Crouch, and a running oxygen tank. Suspecting the presence of false walls in the trailer, officials continued their search.
Their suspicions were confirmed when they discovered a hidden room between the kitchen and bathroom. Inside, they found Martha Crouch and a 14-year-old girl who had been missing for the past three years.
Astonishingly, the girl had never been reported to authorities as a missing person. Martha Crouch was arrested on the outstanding 2021 warrant for violating her probation and will reportedly face new child abuse charges. The 14-year-old girl has been placed under the care of the Department of Social Services.
Martha Crouch is currently being held on a $5,000 bond at the Huerfano County jail and is expected to be extradited to New Mexico to face charges.
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