Couple arrested after bone fragments found in fireplace: police

An Indiana mother and father are behind bars after allegedly killing their two children and then burning their bodies in a backyard fire pit.

Steven Valle, 31, and Samantha Sebella, 25, are charged with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, abuse of a corpse and failure to report a corpse.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said officers began investigating on Sept. 20 after someone allegedly confessed to friends that he had killed two children and burned their bodies at his Wheatfield home. Police described the dead children as “undocumented,” meaning they were likely born at home and never received any documents such as a birth certificate, Social Security number and the like.

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Investigators found Valle and Sebella at a hotel in Newton County. They denied any knowledge, but police took their phones as evidence. Officers received new information, but the parents continued to maintain their innocence, police said. Meanwhile, a third undocumented child was removed from their care.

On Sept. 30, the sheriff’s office, Indiana State Police, Jasper County Coroner’s Office, along with two cadaver dogs, raided the property in Wheatfield where Valle and Sebella once lived. The couple was reportedly evicted from the property earlier this year.