Police have charged Stephanie Bigbee Fleming with conspiring with her mother, Patty Bigbee, to sell her infant son. Fleming left the child with Bigbee, and Bigbee at one point told the Department of Children and Families that she couldn’t care for it. But then Bigbee got in touch with Danielle Skiver, the biological daughter she’d given up for adoption back in 1983. Skiver mentioned that she’d like another child someday, and Bigbee allegedly offered her Fleming’s, the Dayton Beach News Journal reports.
When Skiver realized Bigbee was trying to sell the child, she called police. Then, working with authorities, she haggled Bigbee down from $75,000 to $30,000. Bigbee allegedly told Fleming about the plot, but lied about the price, saying she was selling for $10,000, of which Fleming would get $9,000. Investigators say Fleming agreed, planning to use the money to buy a new car. Bigbee was arrested in a sting Friday. Fleming is already in jail on other charges. She’s not sure who the baby’s father is. (More adoption stories.)