Baby Off Bridge Hoax Cost Haverhill $50K

HAVERHILL (CBS) -- The mother and daughter accused of falsely telling police they saw someone throw a baby off a bridge into the Merrimack River on Christmas Eve made a brief appearance in Haverhill District Court Monday.

The prosecution said the hoax cost the city of Haverhill $50,000, and that 50 people were involved in the search.

Holly Fowler, 42, and Kristine Fowler, 23, were charged with misleading a police investigation and filing a false police report. Holly Fowler was ordered held on $5,000 bail, while her daughter was released on personal recognizance. An attorney for Kristine Fowler denied that she made a 911 call to report a baby in the river.

A court clinician met with both women for psych evaluations after police raised concerns about their mental states.

Police say the women reported that they saw and heard a man throw the baby off the bridge, but detectives determined after a few hours that they had made up the story.

By then, a massive search including a State Police helicopter, a dive team, and local police and firefighters was undertaken in the area of the Comeau Bridge. The search found nothing and was called off.