Woman Accused of Abandoning Kids, Framing Husband

An Iowa woman, 37-year-old Heather Ann Perez Miranda, has been arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including child endangerment and false reporting of a crime. Perez Miranda is alleged to have abandoned her two young children, one of whom has special medical needs, on a busy street, telling them they were unloved. She is also accused of attempting to frame her husband for shooting her.

Perez Miranda was arrested in Linn County and is currently facing two counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent, two counts of child endangerment, one count of domestic abuse assault, and one count of false reporting of an indictable offense, according to court records. The children she allegedly abandoned in Hiawatha, a town about 120 miles east of Des Moines, were aged 6 and 8. The older child has a congenital deformity in her mouth and jaw area and had undergone a tracheostomy, leaving her unable to care for herself.

Although the two children are not Perez Miranda’s biological offspring, she shares four other children with their father, who she is also accused of trying to frame. These four children were reportedly in the car with Perez Miranda when she allegedly abandoned the two victims.

On June 30, 2024, Hiawatha Police Department officers responded to a call about two unattended children on the roadside around the 4000 block of Tower Terrace Road. Upon arrival, first responders found the children, who informed police that Perez Miranda had left them there and driven away.

The children’s father, in an interview, stated that he and Perez Miranda had an argument earlier in the day, during which she punched him in the face. He then left their home and went to a hotel, leaving Perez Miranda with their four shared children and the two victims.

Perez Miranda reportedly told police she had left the children with her partner at a local camping site. However, surveillance footage and witness statements allegedly contradicted her account. She was subsequently arrested and charged with child endangerment and neglect in September 2024.

Prior to her arrest, Perez Miranda allegedly falsely reported to police that the father of her children had shot her. However, investigators reportedly found that the details of her story did not match the trajectory of the bullet, which had passed through the lower left side of her abdomen and out of the camper. Surveillance footage also confirmed that her husband was with their children at a different location at the time of the shooting. Perez Miranda was arrested and charged with false reporting last month.

The sheriff’s office has not disclosed who they believe shot Perez Miranda, but they have stated that they are not seeking other suspects.