Father: 'She was such a trusting girl, that's why this happened'

Father: 'She was such a trusting girl, that's why this happened'

Heather Snively is pictured in a photo from her Facebook page.

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By Susan Harding KATU News and KATU.com Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. - A Washington County woman accused of killing a 21-year-old pregnant woman and claiming the baby boy as her own apparently met the victim on Craigslist, the victim's father told KATU Sunday.

The victim, Heather Megan Snively, was visiting the home of Korena Elaine Roberts to look at some baby items for her son, said the victim's father, Kevin Snively, who spoke to KATU via cell phone after traveling to the Portland area.

He didn't know what happened during the visit, but his daughter's body was found Friday in the crawl space of Roberts' home on Northwest Mill Creek Drive, her baby was somehow delivered and then died and Roberts was charged with murder.

"She was such a trusting girl and that's why this happened," her father said.

Investigators said Sunday they had not yet confirmed that Heather Snively and Roberts met via Craigslist, though a witness did tell them the pair met to buy or trade children's clothing, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

According to her father, the slain woman had only moved to Tigard from the Annapolis, Md., area a few weeks ago to join her longtime boyfriend, Christopher Popp. He had moved about a month ago to set up their apartment and new life in Oregon after he got a new job. The couple had been together since she was 18 and planned to get married, the father said.

"There was nothing more exciting in her life than this baby that was coming," he said.

Autopsy results were expected to confirm how that baby was delivered. Heather Snively was in her third trimester of pregnancy.

Officers responded to Roberts' home Friday afternoon for a report of a newborn that was not breathing, and Roberts told them she had given birth to the child, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. But when both were taken to the hospital, doctors determined Roberts had not given birth. The baby boy could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the hospital, the sheriff's office said.

When officers searched Roberts' house, they found Heather Snively's body, and the older woman was arrested. She could also face charges in the baby's death.

"My daughter and my grandson deserved to live, and they were not allowed to live because of this woman," Kevin Snively said. "And justice just needs to be served."

Popp had reported the mother of his child missing late Friday. Kevin Snively said the man was "devastated" by the news of her death.

"I just wish I had my daughter and my grandson back," the victim's father said.

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