{"id":250604,"date":"2026-04-15T07:29:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/250604\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:29:18","slug":"life-of-woman-known-as-baby-jessica-after-1987-well-rescue-takes-dark-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/250604\/","title":{"rendered":"Life of woman known as ‘Baby Jessica’ after 1987 well rescue takes dark turn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

Jessica McClure Morales, the woman who rose to global prominence as “Baby Jessica” in 1987 when she was rescued after falling into a well as an 18-month-old, was arrested in Midland County, Texas<\/a> following an alleged domestic disturbance.<\/p>\n

Morales, who is now 40, was taken into custody Saturday night by the Midland County Sheriff’s Office at her home in Midland County, according to KMID\/KPEJ,<\/a> citing arrest records.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The station says\u00a0Morales\u00a0was charged with assault causing bodily injury involving family violence and later was released from the Midland County Detention Center after posting\u00a0bond.<\/p>\n

The sheriff’s office confirmed the arrest to FOX 4 in Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

MALNOURISHED BOY FOUND LOCKED IN FATHER’S VAN FOR MORE THAN A YEAR UNABLE TO WALK, HADN’T SHOWERED SINCE 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jessica <\/p>\n

Jessica McClure, 18 months old, fell into an eight-inch diameter well pipe in Midland, Texas, on Oct. 14, 1987. She was rescued after 58 hours on Oct. 16, 1987. (Barbara Laing\/Liaison Agency\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Further details about the alleged incident were not immediately available and the Midland County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

Morales drew international media coverage as an infant when she fell down an 8-inch wide well at her aunt\u2019s home in the area.<\/p>\n

She remained stuck in the well for around 58 hours before being pulled to the surface on the evening of Oct. 16, 1987.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SECURITY GUARD AND ARIZONA MOVING COMPANY EMPLOYEES HELP RECOVER 2-YEAR-OLD GIRL TAKEN BY UNRELATED WOMAN<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Rescuers <\/p>\n

Rescuers worked for 58 hours to free “Baby Jessica” from an 8-inch-wide hole where she fell. (David Woo\/Sygma\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Morales was trapped about 22 feet underground during the ordeal and was saved after first responders drilled a parallel shaft and horizonal tunnel through rock to access her location, KMID\/KPEJ reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When rescuers brought Morales to the surface<\/a> days later, her head was bandaged, and she was covered with dirt and bruises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mugshot <\/p>\n

Jessica McClure Morales, who gained national attention as “Baby Jessica” after being rescued from a well in 1987, was arrested in Midland County, Texas, on a charge of assault causing bodily injury involving family violence. (Midland County Sheriff’s Office via FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth)<\/p>\n

A poll taken by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in 1997 that measured coverage of Princess Diana<\/a>‘s death earlier that year found that in the previous decade, only Jessica’s rescue rivaled the Paris car accident in worldwide attention.<\/p>\n

Chip McClure, the father of Morales, remembered being “absolutely floored” by the media coverage once the family got to the hospital with Jessica.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

Then-Vice President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, former Midland residents, visited. President Ronald Reagan called.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Jessica McClure Morales, the woman who rose to global prominence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6435,27,29,28,393],"class_list":{"0":"post-250604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-crime-world","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-texas-headlines","11":"tag-texas-news","12":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}