3 charged in connection with slain pregnant woman found with baby cut from womb

The boyfriend of Clarisa Figueroa has been charged with concealing a homicidal death according to WLS-TV.

Original report: Four people are being questioned in connection with the strangling death of a pregnant woman whose baby was "forcibly removed" from her womb, Chicago police said Wednesday.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, investigators found the body of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, in a garbage can behind a southwest Chicago home after detaining the "persons of interest" Wednesday, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Authorities did not release their names or announce any charges against them.

Ochoa-Lopez, who was nine months pregnant when she vanished last month, died from ligature strangulation in a homicide, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said. Her baby was cut from her body, sources told the Sun-Times.

>> Read more trending news

On April 23, the same day that Ochoa-Lopez was last seen, paramedics responded to a report of a "newborn in distress" at the home where her body was found weeks later, fire officials told the Chicago Tribune. Guglielmi said the baby is still in "grave" condition at a nearby hospital, The Associated Press reported.

Cecilia Garcia, a spokeswoman for the victim's family, said authorities confirmed Tuesday that the newborn was Ochoa-Lopez's using a DNA test, WBBM-TV reported.

Family members believe that a 46-year-old woman lured Ochoa-Lopez to the home by offering her free baby clothes on a Facebook group, Garcia said. After Ochoa-Lopez was killed, the woman called 911 and said she had given birth to a baby who wasn't breathing, sources told WBBM and the Sun-Times.

The woman also started a GoFundMe campaign seeking donations for the child's medical expenses, Garcia said. The page was later removed, WBBM reported.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.