Texas couple allegedly mislead police, dead baby found in bucket of tar

A Texas couple have been charged with evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse after authorities found their infant son dead in a bucket of tar.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Donna and Roland Grabowski late Saturday in the Dallas suburb of McKinney.

A Collin County Sheriff's Office spokesman said in a Wednesday statement that they had refused to cooperate with investigators looking into a report of the one-week-old boy's death.

After their arrest, deputies searched the couple's home in Princeton, a small city about 64 kilometres northeast of downtown Dallas.

In a shed behind the house they found a bucket of tar, with Micah Grabowski's tiny form submerged in it, Captain Nick Bristow said.

Bristow said the Grabowskis told deputies that they awoke on July 29 to find their son dead in their bed, but they never reported it.

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Sheriff Jim Skinner said the couple repeatedly lied about what happened to Micah.

"It's tragic and it's sad enough any time we have the death of an infant," Sheriff Skinner told WFAA-TV.

"But it's absolute reprehensible when you lie and deceive investigators as to the location of the body."

Investigators are awaiting an autopsy to determine how the boy died.

Donna Grabowski, 41, is being held in jail on a more than $1,400,000 bond for four felony charges including tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and child endangerment.

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Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Roland Grabowski, 42, faces three similar charges and is being held on a $1,300,000 bond.

Jail records do not list an attorney for him.

Roland is registered as a sex offender in Texas for 2008 sexual assaults on two girls, ages 14 and 12.