 J Pat Carter, AP 
 
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 A Florida pest exterminator has confessed to putting his dead daughter in the back of his truck before a botched suicide attempt that left him and his adopted son hospitalized in critical condition, police said. Jorge Barahona , 53, is charged with felony aggravated child abuse for an alleged attack on his 10-year-old adopted son, identified in local media reports as Victor Vocter.According to a probable cause affidavit filed by West Palm Beach police , Barahona told officers he placed the body of his deceased daughter -- identified by local media as Victor's twin, Nubia -- in the back of his pest-control vehicle early Monday and then drove north on Interstate 95 from his home in Miami to West Palm Beach. The boy "appeared to be in respiratory distress and (was) trembling" and his clothing "was soaked with an unknown chemical," the affidavit said. An unresponsive Barahona was found on the ground outside the truck.Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Tim Frith said the occupants had been "exposed to some type of spilled chemical," which investigators have since determined to be an acid-based metal-cleaning solution.A hazardous materials crew was called in to manage the cleanup of the truck. Victor is hospitalized in the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Medical Center.The boy is suffering from severe burns to his abdomen, upper thighs and buttocks. During an examination, medical staff also discovered prior injuries, including a fractured clavicle, a fractured arm, scarring to his buttocks and lower abdomen, and ligature markings to both wrists, police said.Police said Victor's injuries are not consistent with Barahona's story. The crew was in the process of moving containers out of the vehicle when they found the young girl's body covered in acid and wrapped in a plastic bag, police said.Barahona remains hospitalized at Columbia Hospital. Barahona, who also remained hospitalized, told police he was so distraught over Nubias death that he intended to kill himself as he sat inside the truck on a grassy shoulder of I-95. Barahona told investigators he poured gasoline over his head and planned to ignite himself, but had second thoughts because Victors head was resting on his lap. "Barahona allegedly told police he took a five-gallon gas can he had inside the truck and poured gasoline over his head. Victor, who was transferred Wednesday morning to a specialized burn unit at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, has not been able to talk to investigators because he is on a breathing tube, she said. Olsen said police would decide how to charge Barahona further once the autopsy on his daughter determines her cause of death. In a crowded courtroom Wednesday, Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman ordered two other adoptive children  a 7-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy  formally removed from the Barahonas home to a therapeutic foster home. "We are in the preliminary stages of a very tragic, complex case, and DCF will be working with all our community partners," Florida Department of Children and Families spokesman Mark Riordan told the AP.The Barahonas married in 1996 and reportedly operated CJ's Pest Exterminator Inc. out of their home.
– It's one of the more horrific allegations of a child abuse to come along for some time: Florida police found the corpse of a 10-year-old girl, covered in acid, in the back of her adopted father's truck. Her twin brother was in the front seat, nearly overcome by toxic fumes, and is recovering in intensive care from previous injuries including a broken arm and collar bone. Their adopted father, 53-year-old Jorge Barahona, was found outside the truck and has been charged with aggravated child abuse for now, reports CNN. The story coming together suggests the twins were adopted by Jorge and his wife and subjected to systemic abuse, including being bound by their hands and feet and forced to stay in the bathroom, reports the Miami Herald. State authorities had two previous reports of something amiss, including one on Feb. 10, but took no action against the parents. A heart-wrenching detail from the Herald: An investigation finally began when the couple's biological granddaughter told her therapist she wanted to break open her piggy bank to help the twins escape. Click for more.