'Dateline' Is Uncovering the Tragic Story of Heidi Broussard and Her Daughter

Real-life stories of kidnapping, missing persons, and crimes of passion are often more harrowing than fictional stories. The missing person case of Heidi Broussard that turned into a murder case is an example of that. Dateline NBC is covering her story, but what exactly happened to her?

Heidi Broussard was a young Texas mother who had just given birth to her second child in Dec. 2019. Clearly loved by many, her mysterious disappearance and charged killing were devastating to everyone around her. And although her new baby girl was found alive, the story of Heidi Broussard is still a tragic one. Here’s what happened.

After Broussard gave birth to baby Margot on Nov. 25, they both went missing on Dec. 12. She had last been seen dropping off either her son or her fiance’s child at school that same day, but never returned home. All her belongings and her car were at her apartment in Austin, Tex., and there was no sign of a struggle.

Authorities and Broussard’s fiancé, Shane Carey, were perplexed. Where could they be? The Austin Police Department worked together with the FBI and the Texas Rangers to try to find the missing mother and daughter to no avail. "I don't know why anybody would ever harm or touch these two beautiful women together," Carey told KVUE at the time.

However, on Dec. 19, the case took a turn when investigators found Broussard’s body at one of her best friend’s houses in Houston, Tex. Because of this shocking twist, Carey was even more devastated and perplexed but was able to help authorities figure out her motive. Although Broussard was no longer alive when she was found, baby Margot was luckily safe and sound.

In a surprising twist of events, Broussard’s body was found in the car trunk of her friend, Magen Fieramusca. According to reports, she had been acting like she was pregnant with her own child. She announced a pregnancy at the same time as Broussard and even created her own baby registry on Amazon.

Fieramusca claimed that she delivered her own daughter shortly after Broussard with no one else present. However, when authorities asked Fieramusca where she delivered the baby, she “couldn’t remember” the name of the hospital or facility.

Her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Green, believed that she gave birth to his child, but when authorities showed him the photo of baby Margot, he confirmed, “That's the baby at my house.”

From there, investigators were able to actually smell the "immediate and unmistakable odor of decomposing flesh" coming from Fieramusca’s Nissan Versa, which led them to Broussard’s body stuffed inside a black duffel bag in the trunk. An autopsy confirmed that she had tragically been strangled to death, likely by her longtime friend.

Broussard’s family was devastated. "You know, it's like you see a table full of candles and all lit, but then they go and snuff it out like that," her mother told NBC. “That's what [Fieramusca] did. She took the light away. Heidi was a light in everybody's life."

Watch Heidi Broussard’s story unfold on Dateline NBC on Aug. 20 at 10 p.m. EST.