Indiana couple charged with murder after bone fragments found in backyard

On Oct. 4, Valle and Sebella were indicted on multiple counts, CBS News reported. The Indiana couple was charged with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, obstruction of justice and failure to report a corpse. Anything other than failure to report a body is a criminal offense.

The sheriff's office in Jasper County, Indiana, received a disturbing report on September 20 that sparked an investigation, NBC Chicago reported. A person allegedly confessed to acquaintances that he killed two of his children and burned the bodies in a fire pit in the backyard of his home in Wheatfield, Indiana. In a press release, the children were described as “undocumented.”

According to CBS News, Jasper County Sheriff's detectives and other law enforcement personnel searched Wheatfield's home on September 30. Cadaver dogs alerted police to three different locations with partial bone fragments. Investigators reportedly used shovels to break up soil in the yard, collected dirt samples and searched a fire pit in the backyard. Experts in Indianapolis test the bones to determine whether they come from humans or animals.

“It's a shame when children are buried in the backyard,” a neighbor, Kathy Hudspath, told CBS Chicago. “It's disgusting.” She later told a reporter: “I just saw the couple who lived there. They had a little boy. But I didn’t see any other kids.”