KNIGHTDALE, N.C. — An infant was found dead Thursday at the North Carolina home listed in Wake County arrest warrants as the residence of a father and his adult daughter who have been charged in Virginia with incest, reports CBS affiliate WNCN.
Police responded to the home in Knightdale around 9 a.m. Thursday for a welfare check, the station reports. The identity of the deceased infant and the circumstances of the death weren’t immediately clear.
Steven Walter Pladl and his daughter Katie Rose Pladl, 20, were facing charges of incest in Henrico County, Virginia, after authorities there were notified that the couple had a a baby together in September 2017. They were living at the North Carolina home at the time of their arrest in January, according to the station, but it wan’t immediately clear if they are currently residing there.
Steven Pladl and his wife at the time gave Katie up for adoption shortly after she was born in 1998, but in 2016 at age 18, Katie located her birth parents and began living with them in their home west of Richmond, WNCN reported. That’s when the alleged relationship between the father and daughter began, leading to Steven Pladl’s separation from his wife, Katie’ mother.
The mother discovered the relationship and Katie’s pregnancy, and reported it to police.
Steven Pladl and Katie Pladl later married, according to CBS affiliate WTVR. Arrest warrants say that Steven Pladl told his other children to refer to Katie as their stepmother, according to WNCN.
They were both charged with incest, adultery, and contributing to delinquency and bonded out of jail. Steven Pladl’s bond conditions were modified this month to allow him to travel to North Carolina, but he was to live at a different home, reports WTVR.
Katie Pladl’s bond terms required her to live with her adoptive parents, who live in New York, the station reports. She was allowed to travel out of state.
The Knightdale police chief didn’t immediately provide more information about the infant’s death to WNCN, but he referred to the home as a crime scene.
“Right now, our priority is crime scene preservation and evidence collection,” Police Chief Lawrence Capps said. “We will provide additional details as they become available to us.”
