Investigation Into Death Of Toddler Found In Duffel Bag At Mexican Border Centers On Whittier Motel

WHITTIER (CBSLA.com) — Investigators believe the 2-year-old girl found dead in a duffel bag at the Mexican border could have drowned at a Whittier motel.

The couple accused in the girl's death -- Mercy Becerra and Johnny Hartley -- were residents of the motel.

On Friday evening, KCAL9's Tom Wait went to the motel and spoke to people who worked there.

They told him the couple had been living at the motel for the past two months.

The couple was arraigned in San Diego on murder charges Friday.

The prosecutor says the unidentified girl drowned – and contributing causes of death were malnutrition and dehydration.

"The victim is believed to have died earlier this week – shortly before her body was found at the border," said an official.

Detectives say the child was killed in Whittier. It's not clear if she died at the motel where the couple was staying with several other children. But police did serve a search warrant here  and spent  several hours there searching for clues.

"We don't know what happened – how they got involved in it," said the motel's night manager, Barbara Santanello.

The night manager says she saw the couple leaving with other family members just hours before the body was discovered.

"They were all leaving – each one had their own little backpack or whatever like they were going on like they were going on a family outing or something," said Santanello.

"They all seemed like very nice people to me," said Alfred Castillo, "regardless of their appearance. They seemed like very good parents."

Last night, Wait spoke to family members of a woman who believed the little  girl was their granddaughter.

Police have not publicly identified the young victim but did say she is not biologically related to either suspect.

Motive is still a huge question in the case. Prosecutors have not released any of that information.