Wyoming Baby’s Disappearance Ends in Tragedy, Mother Accused of Killing Him During Standoff

Cowboy State Daily, Wyoming News Now, KRQE News contributed to this report.

A heartbreaking search for a missing 11-month-old from Wyoming came to a devastating end this week when law enforcement says the child’s own mother shot and killed him during a standoff in New Mexico.

Authorities in Grant County, New Mexico, say 35-year-old Madeline Daly — the non-custodial mother of Basil Emeric Daly — fled with the infant after a judge granted custody to the child’s father and failed to turn him over as ordered.

Officers were tipped off Tuesday to Daly and the boy’s presence at an RV park in Silver City. When deputies tried to make contact, Daly reportedly barricaded herself inside the RV with the baby. After extended negotiations, a single gunshot was heard inside. When officers entered the vehicle, they found the baby had been shot and, despite attempts to save him, he died before he could be flown to a hospital. Daly was taken into custody at the scene.

Daly now faces a first-degree murder charge and other potential felony counts, and is being held in the Grant County Detention Center.

The infant had been missing for more than a month after Daly left the Worland area, Wyoming, with him following a missed custody hearing. A statewide and regional search had been underway since Nov. 19, when Basil’s father, Jake Stoner, reported him missing.

Stoner, who lives in Nebraska, had been granted temporary custody before Daly left with the child and had been working with law enforcement and a private investigator in hopes of finding Basil safely. In the wake of his son’s death, he said he plans to push for changes to Amber Alert criteria, believing the system might have helped lead to a quicker recovery.

Family friends and authorities described the outcome as shocking and deeply tragic, especially with the holidays approaching. The investigation is now transitioning to federal agencies including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, officials said.

No court dates have been scheduled yet for Daly, and local law enforcement continues to decline additional details as the case unfolds.

If you’d like, I can summarize how Amber Alert rules work and why this case didn’t trigger one.