Woman Accused Of Killing Son Made Odd Burglary Report -- Police Say Daughter Was Found Bound, Gagged

EUGENE, Ore. - Texas police say an Oregon woman charged with murdering her son made a strange report of a burglary that led police to find her daughter bound and gagged in their home.

Tamara ``Tami'' Bird, 27, is accused of strangling her son Ryan, 6, on Sunday. His body was found Monday morning in an outhouse in rural Douglas County about 45 miles from their home in Cottage Grove, south of Eugene.

Bird moved back to Cottage Grove from El Paso with her son and 9-year-old daughter, Tiffany, last month. Her husband, Daniel Bird, filed for divorce in December.

El Paso police said Tamara Bird called shortly before 1 a.m. Jan. 13 to report a burglary in progress at her home in suburban El Paso. Police entered the house through the unlocked front door and found Bird alone in a bedroom but saw no sign of an intruder.

They then found the daughter bound, gagged and blindfolded inside a closet.

Bird and her daughter were interviewed several times, El Paso police said, but their stories conflicted and changed, making it impossible for police to draw any conclusion about what happened.

Police found no evidence of a break-in and dropped the case last month.

A spokesman for the El Paso department's youth services branch said Tiffany ``never indicated that the mother was involved. She said it was a stranger.''

Ryan reportedly was not home at the time of the alleged burglary.

Tami Bird is being held without bail in the Lane County Jail on a charge of intentional murder in her son's death.

An Elkton man found Ryan's body inside aportable toilet midway between Elkton and Scottsburg.

Bird, a 1981 graduate of Cottage Grove High School, where she was a cheerleader, moved to Texas with her husband and children about five years ago.

At the time of Ryan's death, Bird was working as a nurse's aide at a Creswell nursing home and was living with her in-laws, Howard and Shirlee Bird.

Authorities believe Bird strangled her son at home early Sunday afternoon.

Michael Lutz, supervisor for the Lane County office of the state Children's Services Division, said his office is looking into Tiffany's well-being. She is believed to be staying with her father and paternal grandparents at the grandparents' home.