Franklin County Couple Charged With Failing to Surrender Newborn Baby

Authorities have charged Angel Xiong, 33, and Albert R. McMullin, 53, with interfering with custody, a Class D felony. They were being held on $25,000 cash-only bonds.

Prosecuting Attorney Bob Parks said the Division of Family Services previously removed Xiong’s other children from the home on Springfield Road near St. Clair, and had obtained a court order to take custody of Xiong’s new baby when she delivered.

Parks said instead of going to the hospital directed in the court order, the couple went to a different hospital where Xiong delivered the baby. They then left the area and had been “on the run for about a week,” Parks said.

Detective Sgt. Jason Grellner with the sheriff’s office and head of the Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit said he was contacted by DFS personnel last week for help in bringing the parents in because they were having trouble locating the couple.

Grellner told The Missourian that his unit worked with authorities in St. Louis and developed information that led to the house in South St. Louis. Authorities went to the home Monday afternoon and found McMullin and Xiong hiding in the basement with the baby.