Unharmed Toddler Found With Body of Her Mother in Field

SAN DIEGO — The body of a 23-year-old woman was discovered Wednesday morning in an open field in Mission Valley, her 2-year-old daughter found bloodied but sitting unharmed on top of her, police said.

Authorities said that, judging by the toddler’s condition, it was possible that the mother and child had been outside for several hours during the night. They did not elaborate.

The blood on the child was the mother’s, whose death is being investigated as a homicide because of injuries found on her body, homicide Lt. John Welter said.

Two people had discovered the toddler and woman, identified as Maria Bianca Cortes, shortly after 7 a.m. Police said the baby did not cry until officers arrived at the scene.

The girl was transported to a hospital, where she was treated for exposure and then released into the custody of the Department of Social Services, Welter said. The child’s father, Ernesto Cortes, said county officials told him he will be interviewed by authorities before his daughter is released into his custody.

Ernetina Cruz, a close family friend, said Cortes was last seen by family members on Tuesday about 6:30 p.m., when her sister dropped her and her daughter off at a San Diego bus stop.

Cortes, who worked as a baby-sitter and a housekeeper, would leave her daughter with her sister while she was at work, Cruz said. Cortes also attended sewing classes in Linda Vista.

“She was a friendly girl. Even though she had to take the bus . . . all the time nothing stopped her,” Cruz said. “She would take her baby shopping, to a movie or a Mexican concert . . . whatever the little girl wanted, she would take her.”

Cruz’s sentiments were echoed by her husband, Jaime Cruz Hernandez.

“She was a (very) fine mother. She would always take care of her little daughter, who was everything in her life,” Jaime Cruz said. “It’s a tragedy, a total tragedy.”

“Bianca was such a beautiful person, a wonderful person and she lived a highly clean life,” said Jaime Cruz. “This has destroyed us, and now we’re concerned about the little girl and her husband.”

Family friends said Cortes had moved to San Diego from Mexico about five years ago.

Police arrived at the scene after Cortes’ body was spotted by a man reading a newspaper near the field, Welter said.

The man flagged down a woman riding on a bicycle, who then rode into the field where she discovered Cortes and her daughter, Welter said.