Nebraska Mother and Teen Daughter Face Abortion-Related Charges Citing Facebook DMs

A mother and her teen daughter are facing felony charges after police obtained private Facebook DMs about an alleged abortion.

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, authorities began investigating the two upon receiving a tip that 41-year-old Jessica Burgess had helped 17-year-old Celeste Burgess bury a fetus earlier this year. The Burgesses reportedly told police that Celeste had unexpectedly given birth to a stillborn baby while showering on April 22. They then admitted to placing the fetus in a bag and burying it without reporting the incident to authorities. The two were each charged with removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body, as well as concealing the death of another person and false reporting.

Police have also charged a 22-year-old man who allegedly helped the two Burgesses bury the fetus. The man, who has since pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charge, told investigators that the fetus was buried on a piece of rural land owned by his parents. He claimed the mother and daughter first tried to burn the fetus before burying it. Authorities reportedly found “thermal wounds” on the fetus after they exhumed it.  

The incident reportedly took place just weeks before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—the landmark 1973 decision that federally established the constitutional right to abortion. Under Nebraska law, it is illegal to terminate a pregnancy beyond 20 weeks of fertilization. Authorities reviewed Celeste’s medical records and determined she was around 23 weeks at the time of the stillbirth. 

About a week after the initial charges, Nebraska police obtained a warrant to seize Jessica and Celeste’s phones and laptops. They also served Facebook’s parent company with a warrant to gain access to the defendants’ accounts. Shortly after Meta complied with the order, police reportedly found private direct messages that indicated Jessica had obtained abortion pills for Celeste and provided instructions on how to take them. Investigators say the messages were sent days before the stillbirth.

“C. Burgess talks about how she can’t wait to get the ‘thing’ out of her body and reaffirms with J. Burgess that they will burn the evidence afterward,” a detective summarized.

The pair were hit with two more felonies: performing or attempting an abortion on a pregnancy at more than 20 weeks, and performing an abortion as a non-licensed doctor.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a case like this,” Madison County Attorney Joseph Smith said last week. “Usually, abortions are performed in hospitals, and doctors are involved, and it’s not the type of stuff that occurred in this case.”

The Burgesses’ attorneys declined the outlet’s request for comment.