A woman who stole the world’s hearts when she was a toddler after being dramatically rescued from a well has been arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse 39 years later.
Jessica McClure Morales – better known as ‘Baby Jessica’ – was charged with domestic family violence after an incident at her home in Midland, Texas, around 10pm on Saturday.
McClure Morales, 40, was taken into custody at the scene. She was charged with assault causing bodily injury involving family violence and later released on bond for an undisclosed amount.
Further details about the incident have yet to emerge, with Midland County Sheriff’s Office saying it may take up to 10 days to release McClure Morales’s arrest affidavit, YourBasin.com first reported.
In October 1987, 18-month-old ‘Baby Jessica’ fell 22 feet down an eight-inch-wide well casing in her aunt’s backyard in Midland, about 300 miles west of Fort Worth.
The subsequent 58-hour rescue attempt was a global sensation and was broadcast live on the three biggest US television networks – ABC, NBC and CBS. All three interrupted their scheduled primetime programming to broadcast news of the rescue.
Rescuers had to drill a horizontal tunnel and a parallel shaft through rock to access McClure Morales as part of an intense mission that involved specialized techniques and equipment.
During her rescue, crew members reportedly heard the toddler singing before Robert O’Donnell, a paramedic at the scene, made his way through the tight tunnel and saved her.
She underwent multiple surgeries after sustaining injuries while trapped in the well.
Then-President Ronald Reagan said: ‘Everybody in America became godmothers and godfathers of Jessica while this was going on.’
She was also pictured with former President George Bush in November 1989 alongside her family. In the image, she took Bush’s glasses as they all laughed.
Her ordeal was turned into a popular 1989 TV movie, Everyone’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure.
The Simpsons also aired a satirical episode based on McClure’s unique experience in January 1992.
The episode, called ‘Radio Bart,’ showed Homer’s son pretending to get trapped down a well by lowering a radio down and using a microphone to trick Springfield residents.
The prank was successful, but Bart soon realized the radio he used had his name on it.
When he went to retrieve it, he ended up actually getting stuck in the well and angry residents refused to save him.
McClure Morales went on to graduate from Greenwood High School in 2004, and in January 2006, she married her husband, Daniel Morales.
They share two children together, Simon, and their daughter Sheyenne.
On her 25th birthday in March 2011, McClure Morales gained access to her $1.2 million trust fund.
The fund was created after people donated on behalf of the then-toddler after her traumatic accident.
But she revealed in a 2017 interview with People that a large chunk of her money actually vanished as a result of the 2008 stock market crash.
She decided to put the funds she had left toward buying a home for her family in Midland.
McClure Morales previously worked at a local elementary school as a special-education teacher, and her husband is employed as a foreman at a pipe supply company, the outlet reported.
She now works as an assistant shop manager at Richard Horticulture, a local landscaping business, according to her Facebook page.
In 2022, McClure Morales told People magazine that her rescue from the well had given her the perspective to shrug off her financial difficulties.
‘I had God on my side that day. My life is a miracle,’ she told People.
She also shared her gratitude for the people who donated to her trust fund.
‘I think it’s amazing that people would come together like that to donate money to a child that was not theirs.
‘I appreciate everything they did,’ she added.
Authorities have not released any further details about her arrest and the case remains under investigation.
The Daily Mail contacted the Midland County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
