“Your Baby Is Gonna Die”: Michigan Mother and Sex-Offender Stepfather Charged with Horrific Cesarean Murder of Pregnant Daughter in National Forest

In a crime so depraved it has left even veteran detectives shaken, prosecutors say a 40-year-old mother and her registered-sex-offender husband murdered their own pregnant daughter in the Manistee National Forest, cut her nearly full-term baby from her womb while she was still conscious, then slit her throat when she continued to fight for her life.

Rebecca Marie Park, 22, vanished on the night of November 3 after voluntarily climbing into a dark-colored vehicle outside a home on South 21½ Road in Boon Township. Her cracked phone was later found discarded on a remote two-track. For three agonizing weeks her family pleaded for her safe return. On November 25, a deer hunter stumbled across her partially clothed body hidden under branches deep in the forest. The unborn child was gone.

On Tuesday, the nightmare took its darkest turn yet.

Wexford County Prosecutor Corey Wiggins announced first-degree murder and felony murder charges against Rebecca’s mother, Cortney Lynn Bartholomew, 40, and stepfather, Bradly Allen Bartholomew, 47. A 106-page probable-cause affidavit, obtained by this newspaper, lays out a confession so chilling it reads like the script of a horror film no studio would dare produce.

According to the documents:

Bradly Bartholomew, a Tier III registered sex offender with prior convictions for criminal sexual conduct involving minors, had been sexually abusing Rebecca since she was a child and had impregnated her.
When Rebecca reached 38 weeks and began talking about leaving home with the baby, the couple decided she “knew too much” and had to die.
On November 3, they lured her into their vehicle under the pretense of a “family talk.” Instead they drove her 45 minutes into the national forest.
There, Bradly allegedly stabbed Rebecca multiple times while Cortney held her down. When Rebecca continued to struggle and scream, Cortney took the knife and performed a crude cesarean section while her daughter was still conscious.
As Rebecca bled out, Cortney looked her in the eyes and said: “Lay back. Your baby is gonna die.”
Bradly then slit Rebecca’s throat “to finish her off.”
Cortney attempted to tie off the umbilical cord with a shoelace, wrapped the infant in a blanket, and the couple later burned, and the pair fled, leaving Rebecca’s body for animals.

During hours of interrogation, Cortney initially claimed strangers in a black van had abducted Rebecca. When confronted with cellphone pings placing her own vehicle at the murder scene, she broke down and allegedly confessed everything, telling detectives: “Brad said it was his baby… he didn’t want anyone to know.”

The newborn has never been found. Investigators believe the child either died shortly after the crude delivery or was disposed of separately. Search teams with cadaver dogs continue combing the forest and nearby lakes.

Bradly Bartholomew remains on the sex-offender registry for a 2005 conviction involving a 14-year-old girl. Court records show he married Cortney in 2010 when Rebecca was just seven years old. Neighbors described the household as “controlling and secretive,” with Rebecca rarely allowed visitors.

Both suspects appeared via Zoom for arraignment Wednesday morning. Cortney, sobbing uncontrollably sobbing, repeatedly mouthed “I’m sorry” toward the camera. Bradly stared straight ahead, expressionless. Bond was denied for both. They face mandatory life without parole if convicted of first-degree murder.

Rebecca’s biological father, who lives out of state and had been estranged from the family, released a statement through his attorney: “She was failed by every adult who was supposed to protect her. We just want her baby found so they can be buried together.”

The Wexford County Sheriff’s Office, which had spent weeks begging social media sleuths to stop spreading rumors of “bloody clothing” and “human remains in coolers,” issued a new statement Wednesday night: “The truth is far worse than any rumor you could have imagined. Please let us work.”

A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Friday evening at the Boon Township boat launch where Rebecca was last seen alive. Organizers say hundreds are expected, many wearing pink and blue ribbons for both mother and child.

Anyone with information about the missing infant is urged to call the silent-observer line at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. A $50,000 reward remains active.

Rebecca Park’s story began with hope for new life. It ended in the coldest corner of a Michigan forest, betrayed by the very people who brought her into the world.