{"id":4857,"date":"2025-11-23T12:51:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T12:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=4857"},"modified":"2025-11-23T12:51:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T12:51:21","slug":"toddler-found-trapped-in-a-pipe-after-vanishing-38-years-later-this-is-baby-jessica-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=4857","title":{"rendered":"Toddler found trapped in a pipe after vanishing \u2013 38 years later, this is \u2018Baby Jessica\u2019 now."},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u2018Baby Jessica\u2019 fell down a well 38 years ago. Credit \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Some of our readers might recall the remarkable tale of Jessica McClure Morales. In 1987, at just 18 months old, she disappeared while playing with four other kids in her aunt\u2019s backyard in Midland, Texas.<\/p>\n

Panicked family members quickly found out that she had fallen 22 feet down a well that they believed was covered.<\/p>\n

Her mother, Cissy, shared with PEOPLE: \u201cI didn\u2019t know what to do. I just ran in and called the police. They arrived within three minutes, but it felt like an eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Jessica was trapped, and her frightening situation soon caught the attention of news outlets across the US. A massive, around-the-clock rescue effort commenced, with emergency responders, drilling experts, and volunteers working diligently to save her over the span of two days.<\/p>\n

Jessica was stuck without food or water. The first officer on the scene was Bobbie Jo Hall, who remembered seeing nothing when he first looked into the hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called the baby\u2019s name three or four times and didn\u2019t hear anything. Finally, I got a cry in response,\u201d he told PEOPLE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t know how deep she was until we lowered a tape with a flashlight into the hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detective Andy Glasscock remarked: \u201cI would say 80 percent of the time she was either crying or making some kind of noise we could hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we weren\u2019t offering words of encouragement, we\u2019d ask her to sing for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget her singing \u2018Winnie-the-Pooh.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cBaby Jessica\u201d McClure becomes famous at the age of 18 months after falling into a well in Midland, Texas on October 14, 1987. Rescuers worked for 58 hours to free her from the 8-inch-wide hole. (Photo by Bill Nation\/Sygma via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

After nearly 60 hours of tireless effort, a breakthrough occurred, allowing rescuers to bring the one-year-old to safety. The concluding moments of the operation were aired to millions across the US \u2013 the remarkable rescue of \u2018Baby Jessica\u2019 captured the attention of the entire nation.<\/p>\n

38 years have gone by since that extraordinary event, yet those two and a half days have significantly shaped Jessica\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, I suppose it unfolded as it was meant to,\u201d she shared with PEOPLE in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI faced bullying because of it, but the majority of people are kind and view what happened as a miraculous event. It truly is. I believe none of this would have occurred without God.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rescuers worked for 58 hours to free \u201cBaby Jessica\u201d from the eight-inch-wide hole in which she fell. (Photo by David Woo\/Sygma via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Nearly forty years later, Jessica is now a mother and grandmother. In 2019, she shared that the nickname Baby Jessica is still in use today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have people who associate me with that name,\u201d she told PEOPLE.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the other day, I mentioned to a woman at work that I was the little girl who fell into the well, and she exclaimed, \u2018Oh my gosh, you\u2019re Baby Jessica!’\u201d she recounted.<\/p>\n

According to PEOPLE, Jessica continues to reside in rural Texas with her husband, Danny, whom she wed in 2006.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Danny recalls watching the news on the day his future wife was rescued from the well on October 16, 1987. At the age of 13, he found out about the successful rescue while attending a football game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey paused the entire game to announce, \u2018Baby Jessica has been rescued,’\u201d Danny said. \u201cIt was quite an experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple is said to have two children, Simon and Sheyenne, who have in turn blessed them with grandchildren, Emiliano and Nolan.<\/p>\n

Jessica mentioned that when her daughter, Sheyenne, was in elementary school, her teacher showed the class a video about the incident after discovering that Sheyenne\u2019s mom was Baby Jessica.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer teacher was well aware of it,\u201d Jessica told PEOPLE. \u201cBut the other kids were clueless about what she meant.<\/p>\n

After the traumatic event in 1987, a trust fund of $1.2 million was created by generous individuals worldwide. Among the donors was Danny\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

Jessica disclosed that a significant portion of the fund was lost during the 2008 stock market crash, but there remained enough to help buy a home.<\/p>\n

According to Jessica\u2019s Facebook page, she currently works at Richards Horticulture in Midland, Texas, as a special education assistant at an elementary school.<\/p>\n

Most recently, in 2024, Jessica informed PEOPLE that she has no recollection of being rescued all those years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first found out about it when I was just 4 years old while watching Rescue 911 at my stepmother\u2019s house,\u201d she reminisced. \u201cIt was such an emotional experience. I remember being in tears. She told me, \u2018You do understand that this is about you, right?\u2019 My dad added, \u2018We were planning to wait until she was a bit older to share this with her.’\u201d<\/p>\n

In total, Jessica underwent 15 surgeries due to the injuries she sustained from falling into the well. Her right foot needed surgical reconstruction after she developed gangrene, and she also has a faint scar on her head.<\/p>\n

What an amazing tale of a young girl\u2019s strength and the unity of people coming together. We wish Jessica all the best as she moves forward!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Baby Jessica\u2019 fell down a well 38 years ago. Credit \/ Getty Images Some of our readers might recall the remarkable tale of Jessica McClure Morales. In 1987, at just … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4859,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4857\/revisions\/4859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}