DCFS investigating parents of infant found dead

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has launched an investigation into claims of abuse and neglect against the parents of a 1-month-old girl found dead in their Prospect Heights home, a spokeswoman said Friday.

Annabella Cochrane was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m. Thursday in the home in the Willow Heights condominiums, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Another child living in the home has been placed with relatives through a DCFS-monitored safety plan, spokeswoman Veronica Resa said. Police have identified the child as a 9-year-old boy, believed to be the girl's half brother.

DCFS also is investigating earlier allegations of abuse against the parents, Resa said. That probe began in May, she said. The state agency has one unfounded report involving the parents from June, Resa added.

An autopsy performed on the infant Friday was inconclusive, pending toxicology results expected in two months, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The autopsy showed no signs of trauma, police said.

Investigators turned over the two-bedroom unit back to the baby's parents Friday afternoon, Police Chief Jamie Dunne said. The couple moved into the condo on the 800 block of East Old Willow Road in late winter, Dunne said.

Officers have been called to the home three times in the last three months, but Dunne declined to disclose the reasons for those calls, citing the ongoing investigation.

Police have interviewed the girl's parents, who are in their 30s and cooperating with the investigation, Dunne said. No one is in custody.

Forensic teams sifted through the condo on the northwest end of the complex into late Thursday night. They recovered nothing unusual, Dunne said.

Prospect Heights paramedics were called to the condominiums just before 10 a.m. Thursday on a report of an infant in respiratory arrest. Police said the girl's brother discovered her and alerted her father, who called 911.