If you’ve recently watched Stolen Baby on Netflix and found yourself searching for the real person behind the story, this article is for you. Heidi Broussard was a 33-year-old mother from Austin, Texas, whose disappearance and murder in December 2019 shocked the country. Her killer wasn’t a stranger — it was someone she’d known since she was 11 years old. Six years later, a Netflix film has brought her story to a whole new audience, and people everywhere want to know who she really was.
Background: Who Was Heidi Broussard?
Heidi Elizabeth Broussard was born on June 15, 1986, in Cameron, a small coastal town in Louisiana. She grew up mostly in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where her parents raised her as their only child. By all accounts, she was the kind of person who made every room feel warmer the moment she walked in.
She moved to Austin, Texas, around 2015, and built a quiet, full life there. She worked as a waitress at Cracker Barrel, was deeply involved in her church community, and was engaged to her long-time partner, Shane Tyson Carey. She was also a mom — to her son Silas and, just two weeks before she disappeared, to her newborn daughter Margot. People who knew her described her as generous, fun-loving, and someone who genuinely treated everyone like a best friend.
She wasn’t a celebrity. She wasn’t famous. But her story cut through because it’s the kind of betrayal that’s almost impossible to make sense of — and because her children were left behind.
Latest Update
Here is what’s currently confirmed about this case and why Heidi Broussard is trending in searches again right now.
The main reason people are searching for Heidi Broussard in 2026 is that the film Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard was added to Netflix on May 15, 2026. Originally a Lifetime movie that premiered on September 23, 2023, its arrival on Netflix gave it a global audience — and it quickly climbed the platform’s worldwide charts.
The 86-minute biographical drama stars Emily Osment as Magen Fieramusca and Anna Hopkins as Heidi Broussard. It dramatizes the friendship, the deception, the disappearance, and the investigation. While the film takes some creative license (as dramatizations typically do), the core facts match the real case closely.
As for Fieramusca, she is currently serving her 55-year sentence at the William P. Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas — a women’s facility operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Her parole eligibility date is June 19, 2047. Heidi’s daughter Margot is being raised by her father, Shane Carey, who has spoken publicly about the slow, painful process of healing. Heidi’s son Silas is in the care of her mother, Tammy Broussard.
✅ Case Status:
Closed. Magen Fieramusca pleaded guilty in February 2023 to first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping, receiving a 55-year prison sentence in Travis County Criminal Court. No other suspects have been charged.
Full Profile
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Heidi Elizabeth Broussard |
| Date of Birth | June 15, 1986 |
| Date of Death | On or about December 12, 2019 (body discovered December 19, 2019) |
| Age at Time of Death | 33 years old |
| Birthplace | Cameron, Louisiana |
| Hometown | Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| Residence at Death | Austin, Texas |
| Height | Approximately 5 ft 3 in (sources vary slightly; unconfirmed exact figure) |
| Education | LaGrange High School, Lake Charles — Class of 2004 |
| Occupation | Waitress at Cracker Barrel; applying for Veterinary Technician program at time of death |
| Partner/Fiancé | Shane Tyson Carey (engaged; not married at time of death) |
| Children | Silas Tyson Carey (son, born 2013), Margot Elizabeth Carey (daughter, born November 26, 2019), Addison Carey (step-daughter) |
| Parents | Roger “David” Broussard and Tammy Bostick Broussard |
| Religion | Christian — attended Abundant Life Fellowship (youth), Life Church of Austin (adult) |
| Net Worth | Not publicly available; Heidi worked as a waitress and was not a public figure before her death |
| Social Media | No official or verified public profiles; Heidi was a private individual |
Family and Early Life
Heidi grew up as an only child in Lake Charles, Louisiana, raised by her parents Roger “David” Broussard and Tammy Bostick Broussard. By everyone’s account, she had a warm, faith-centered childhood. She was active in church youth groups from an early age — which is, ironically, how she eventually crossed paths with Magen Fieramusca. The two girls met at church camp at around age 11.
Career Path
Heidi worked for most of her adult life in food service, spending several years as a waitress at Cracker Barrel in Austin. She wasn’t unhappy with that work — people who knew her say she was warm with customers and made a genuine impression wherever she worked. But she had bigger plans. At the time of her death, she was actively seeking admission into a program to train as a Veterinary Technician, a career that fit her known love for animals.
Education
Heidi graduated from LaGrange High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 2004. Beyond high school, no completed college degree is documented. She was pursuing further training in veterinary technology at the time she was killed.
Spouse and Partner
Heidi was engaged to Shane Tyson Carey for approximately nine years before her death. The two were not yet married. Shane was the father of both Silas and Margot, and also had a daughter named Addison from a previous relationship, whom Heidi helped raise. After Heidi’s murder, Shane was reunited with baby Margot on Christmas Eve, 2019 — one of the few tender moments amid an otherwise devastating month. He has since spoken to media outlets about the ongoing grief of raising his children without Heidi.
Parents
Her parents, Roger “David” and Tammy Broussard, remain in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Tammy is raising Heidi’s son Silas. In interviews after the case, Tammy admitted she never trusted Fieramusca and described the grief as something you don’t move through so much as learn to carry. Her father, David, asked the public for space and privacy to grieve in the days surrounding Heidi’s funeral.
Religion
Faith was central to Heidi’s identity throughout her life. As a child and teenager, she attended Abundant Life Fellowship in Louisiana. As an adult in Austin, she became a member of Life Church of Austin. She had already taken baby Margot to her first Sunday service just days before she disappeared.
The Crime: What Happened
| Date | What Happened |
|---|---|
| November 26, 2019 | Heidi gives birth to daughter Margot. Magen Fieramusca is present in the delivery room. |
| December 12, 2019 | Heidi and two-week-old Margot are reported missing after a school drop-off for son Silas. Shane Carey contacts police. |
| December 19, 2019 | Investigators find Heidi’s body in the trunk of a car outside Fieramusca’s home in Houston. Margot is found alive inside the house. |
| December 24, 2019 | Baby Margot is reunited with her father, Shane Carey, on Christmas Eve. |
| December 2019 | Magen Fieramusca is arrested and charged with kidnapping, tampering with a corpse, and later capital murder. |
| February 2, 2023 | Fieramusca pleads guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping as part of a plea deal. |
| February 2023 | Travis County judge sentences Fieramusca to 55 years in prison. Capital murder charge dropped as part of deal. |
| September 23, 2023 | Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard premieres on Lifetime. |
| May 15, 2026 | Film added to Netflix, reaching a global audience and reigniting widespread searches about the case. |
⚠️ Important Clarification:
Fieramusca never publicly confessed to the crime. She maintained her innocence for years before accepting a plea deal in 2023 to avoid a capital murder trial. The 55-year sentence was the result of a negotiated agreement, not a trial verdict.
Reader Questions (FAQ)
Who was Heidi Broussard?
Heidi Broussard was a 33-year-old mother from Austin, Texas, who was murdered on or about December 12, 2019, by her childhood friend Magen Fieramusca. Fieramusca strangled Heidi and kidnapped her two-week-old daughter Margot in an apparent plot to raise the baby as her own after faking a pregnancy for months. Heidi’s body was found a week later in the trunk of a car parked outside Fieramusca’s Houston home.
Who killed Heidi Broussard and why?
Magen Fieramusca, a woman who had known Heidi since they were 11-year-olds at church camp, was convicted of her murder. Prosecutors and investigators believe Fieramusca faked a pregnancy — even attending the delivery of Heidi’s daughter — and then lured or forced Heidi into her car before strangling her, intending to pass baby Margot off as her own child. A plea deal in 2023 resulted in a 55-year prison sentence.
What happened to Heidi Broussard’s baby, Margot?
Baby Margot was found alive and unharmed inside Magen Fieramusca’s Houston home when investigators arrived on December 19, 2019. She was reunited with her father, Shane Carey, on December 24, 2019. As of 2026, Margot is being raised by Shane Carey.
Where is Magen Fieramusca now in 2026?
Fieramusca is currently incarcerated at the William P. Hobby Unit in Marlin, Texas, a women’s facility operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She is serving a 55-year sentence and will not be eligible for parole until June 19, 2047, when she will be 61 years old.
What is the Stolen Baby Netflix film and is it based on a true story?
Yes, it’s based directly on the Heidi Broussard murder case. The 86-minute biographical thriller originally premiered on Lifetime on September 23, 2023, and was added to Netflix on May 15, 2026. Emily Osment plays Magen Fieramusca and Anna Hopkins plays Heidi Broussard. While it’s a dramatization, the central facts — the fake pregnancy, the kidnapping, the murder, and the conviction — are all real.
What happened to Heidi Broussard’s children after her death?
Her son Silas is being raised by her mother, Tammy Broussard, in Louisiana. Her daughter Margot is with her father, Shane Carey. Shane has spoken to media about the difficulty of raising two young children while carrying the grief of losing Heidi in such a violent and unexpected way.
Where was Heidi Broussard from?
Heidi was born in Cameron, Louisiana, on June 15, 1986, and grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She moved to Austin, Texas, around 2015, where she was living at the time of her death. Her family still resides in the Lake Charles area.
Was Heidi Broussard’s case ever solved?
Yes. Magen Fieramusca was arrested within days of Heidi’s body being found and was charged shortly after. In February 2023 she entered a guilty plea in Travis County Criminal Court, and the case was officially closed with a 55-year prison sentence.
Wrap-Up
Heidi Broussard was 33 years old — engaged, raising a six-year-old son, and barely two weeks into new motherhood — when her life was taken by the last person anyone expected. She wasn’t a public figure by choice. She was a waitress with big dreams, a woman of faith, and a mother who, by every account from people who loved her, made the world around her warmer just by being in it.
What makes her story so hard to look away from isn’t just the horror of the crime. It’s the ordinary tenderness of what was stolen: a mother’s first weeks with a newborn, a son waiting for his mom to pick him up, a man waiting for a text message that never came. The Netflix film introduced her to millions of people who never knew her name before May 2026 — and while no dramatization can capture who she really was, it has made sure that her name is not forgotten.
If you’re watching the film and feel shaken by it, that reaction is appropriate. The real story is heavier than any 86-minute runtime can hold. Heidi’s children are growing up. Her parents are getting older. And somewhere in Texas, the woman who took all of that from them is counting the years until a parole date that’s more than two decades away. Justice moved slowly, but it did move.
John Wood is the founder and lead editor of Biography Region. He researches and writes accurate, engaging biographies of celebrities, entrepreneurs, influencers, and public figures, delivering well-sourced, reader-focused content that informs and inspires.