Jessica McClure Morales, famously known as “Baby Jessica” after her dramatic 1987 rescue from a well, has been arrested in Midland County, Texas, following an alleged domestic incident.
Now 40 years old, Morales was detained on Saturday night by the Midland County Sheriff’s Office at her Midland County residence, according to arrest records reported by KMID/KPEJ.
She faces charges of assault causing bodily injury related to family violence. Morales was later released from the Midland County Detention Center after posting bond, the station reported.
The Midland County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrest to FOX 4 in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Jessica McClure captured international attention as an 18-month-old when she fell into a narrow well in Midland, Texas, on October 14, 1987. Her rescue, carried out over 58 tense hours, concluded successfully on October 16, 1987. (Barbara Laing/Liaison Agency/Getty Images)
Details surrounding the current incident remain sparse. The Midland County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to repeated requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Morales drew international media coverage as an infant when she fell down an 8-inch wide well at her aunt’s home in the area.
She remained stuck in the well for around 58 hours before being pulled to the surface on the evening of Oct. 16, 1987.
Rescuers worked for 58 hours to free “Baby Jessica” from an 8-inch-wide hole where she fell. (David Woo/Sygma/Getty Images)
Morales was trapped about 22 feet underground during the ordeal and was saved after first responders drilled a parallel shaft and horizonal tunnel through rock to access her location, KMID/KPEJ reported.
When rescuers brought Morales to the surface days later, her head was bandaged, and she was covered with dirt and bruises.
Jessica McClure Morales, who gained national attention as “Baby Jessica” after being rescued from a well in 1987, was arrested in Midland County, Texas, on a charge of assault causing bodily injury involving family violence. (Midland County Sheriff’s Office via FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth)
A poll taken by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in 1997 that measured coverage of Princess Diana’s death earlier that year found that in the previous decade, only Jessica’s rescue rivaled the Paris car accident in worldwide attention.
Chip McClure, the father of Morales, remembered being “absolutely floored” by the media coverage once the family got to the hospital with Jessica.
Then-Vice President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, former Midland residents, visited. President Ronald Reagan called.
