ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — A man bonded out of jail Wednesday after authorities found a grow house at his Altamonte Springs home, but the search continues for a missing woman and her baby related to the case.
Channel 9 has learned authorities are searching for Jessica McCreery, 21 and her baby, 7-month-old Penelope Hogarth, in connection to the case.
Officers have charged McCreery's boyfriend, David Hogarth, 46, with drug possession and manufacturing.
Channel 9's Tim Barber spoke with McCreery's sister via phone Wednesday, and she said McCreery met Hogarth, who's been married twice before, on Craigslist.
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Investigators said the couple had Penelope at the Adelaide Boulevard house in October, but family members said they didn't find out about Penelope until March.
McCreery's family said Hogarth was anti-government and said he didn't want to McCreery to have the baby in the hospital because then she would be under the government's eye, but they do not believe Hogarth is a violent man.
Authorities said the baby was born in the home without medical care, and Child Protective Services recently got a tip that she was malnourished.
"We were accompanying Child Protective Services here in Seminole County to do a follow-up investigation to check on the well-being of a 7-month-old, who was reported to be born at home (and) has not seen any medical attention," said Officer Rob Pelton, of Altamonte Springs police.
After smelling pot, officers got a search warrant and uncovered a grow house with about six 8 foot tall plants, authorities said, but there was no sign of the baby or mother.
Hogarth was questioned and made statements that led police to believe the mother and baby could be in danger, authorities said.
McCreery's sister told Channel 9 she's worried about McCreery but isn’t sure whether Hogarth did anything to hurt her or the child.
She said he sister could be secretive, and stopped talking to family after meeting Hogarth.
She said McCrery did call to share news of the baby.
“It’s said. My gut tells me she’s ok. Just away,” said an unidentified neighbor.
Neighbors said the baby didn’t seem well.
“It looked like it just came out of the womb. It was so small and thin. I think she said it was five to six months old,” said an unidentified neighbor.
Officers said Hogarth is not cooperating with the investigation.
"We are not receiving the information from him that we hoped to, which was their location and if they are OK," said Pelton. "We have concerns for their well-being. They have entered them into the system as missing and endangered."
Channel 9 learned CPS, which is part of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, and an officer showed up at the home on May 5, but Hogarth wouldn't let them inside the home. According to the officer, the mother brought the infant outside, and CPS noted Penelope appeared malnourished.
Police said CPS allowed McCreery to keep the child with the stipulation she have her checked out by medical professionals.
CPS officials said if an investigator responds to check on the well-bring of a child and sees an immediate danger, they can and will remove the child on the spot. That did not happen on May 5.
Channel 9's Steve Barrett spent Wednesday looking into Hogarth's past and found he allegedly threatened to kill one of his ex-wives.
Divorce documents include a domestic violence injunction and accusations that Hogarth was once accused of plotting to kidnap his daughter and kill her mother, his ex-wife.
"I am very scared. When he rages, nothing else matters to him," his ex-wife, Jennifer Hogarth, said in the documents.
She went on to say that Hogarth "shoved me against the wall while I am holding our baby" and allegedly told her, "I am going to snap soon. And if I snap and you are here, you won't be here anymore."
In the domestic violence injunction from 2001, Jennifer Hogarth claims her then-husband "was thinking of having his ex (girlfriend) killed so he would gain custody of their daughter. He had at one time planned to kidnap (his daughter)."
Channel 9 spoke to Hogarth’s ex-girlfriend, Kim Noyes. She is the mother of Hogarth’s 21-year-old daughter, Jessica Hogarth.
“He was violent. He had a short tempter,” Noyes said.
Jessica Hogarth described a volatile relationship with her father. It wasn’t until Penelope and Jessica McCreery were reported missing did she learn that she had a sister.
“I just found out Penelope Hogarth is my sister,” she said. “My relationship with my father is very rocky. I will probably never see him again.”
She went on to say that drugs played a big role in her father’s life and she believes he is capable of being involved in Penelope and Jessica McCreery’s disappearance.
Noyes said she had a tumultuous 2-year relationship with David Hogarth in the late 90s. She said he was a “loser” and was very selfish and manipulative.
WFTV legal analyst and former Chief Judge Belvin Perry said those past allegations are something investigators will now look closely at.
"All of that information would be relevant and material to this current investigation and his particular patterns," said Perry.
Anyone with information on McCreery and Penelope's whereabouts is asked to contact Altamonte Springs police.
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