SKOWHEGAN – A husband and wife from Fairfield are at the center of a joint investigation among the Maine State Police, the Attorney General’s Office, Fairfield police and the Department of Human Services into a possible cash-for-baby adoption scam.

Officials from the agencies said they are trying to determine whether John and Lynn Zeigler committed welfare fraud by faking the birth of a child, Rose, or whether something far more sinister – such as offering the child for sale on the Internet – occurred. Police said they also are investigating whether harm has come to Rose Zeigler, if she existed.

“In 18 years, this is the most mysterious case I’ve ever worked on,” Maine State Police Detective Tim Urquhart said after a court hearing Monday on welfare fraud charges.

The Zeiglers have been in jail for two months, unable to make the bail posted, since they were arrested in Schenectady, N.Y., charged with theft involving state welfare.

They appeared Monday before Justice Kirk Studstrup in Skowhegan Superior Court- separately, with two different attorneys – to make their first appearances on the welfare fraud charges. They both pleaded not guilty to Class C theft.

Attorney Peter Barnett, who is representing John Zeigler, said both of the Zeiglers have confessed that it was a scam. And Lynn Zeigler’s attorney, Philip Mohlar, said he had medical tests that proved Lynn Zeigler had never been pregnant in her life.

The case, which could be as simple as faking a child’s existence to obtain food stamps and other assistance, could be as complicated as an attempt by the couple to abduct another woman’s baby.

After hearing from the attorneys and Assistant Attorney General David Spencer, the justice commented: “This is a good script.”

Spencer explained that the case “has danger to a child at its heart.” He said the Zeiglers first were investigated by the Fairfield Police Department last July when a woman asked that a welfare check be made on the Zeiglers’ infant daughter, Rose, who was supposed to be 11/2 years old.

Spencer said the woman had applied to the couple to be a nanny but had never seen the child when she visited. She also told police that the couple wanted her to leave her own baby with them while she went apartment hunting.

“They were trying to get their hands on a child,” said Spencer.

“The Zeiglers had offered a child for adoption on the Internet,” said Spencer, “and one couple even sent them several thousand dollars.”

Fairfield police found no baby at the Zeigler home but did find a crib, a partially completed baby book and other items. Spencer said the couple insisted the baby was with friends.

“They provided a birth certificate from Oklahoma, where they claimed to have had a home birth,” said Spencer. “They insisted there was a baby.”

But as the investigation proceeded, no baby was found, said Spencer. Eventually, he said, Lynn Zeigler said she had a miscarriage and investigators set up an appointment for her to take a polygraph.

“She never showed up and in July we lost track of them,” said Spencer. When police attempted to track them through the use of their welfare debit card, they discovered that Lynn Zeigler’s mother in Monmouth was using the card.

A summons for theft by deception was issued for the couple, and they were arrested in early September in New York, where they said they were returning from selling a truck out of state.

Even as he charged the couple with deceiving the state into believing a baby existed, Spencer said: “Our underlying concern was, ‘Where is the baby?’

“We know they were attempting to sell babies over the Internet, and they were determined to obtain a child either by birth, through a friend or abduction,” said Spencer. He also said that a search of the couple’s computer uncovered instructions on how to abduct a child and alter its identity.

During Spencer’s comments, both the Zeiglers looked downward and shook their heads.

Barnett, John Zeigler’s attorney, said the court should look at the actual theft charges.

“This is a welfare case of $6,600,” said Barnett. “The state has been investigating this missing child for six months. Both of the Zeiglers have confessed that it was a scam. The state wants it both ways, for the court to believe there was a child, and then there wasn’t a child.”

Mohlar said the state had overlooked key evidence provided to them months ago. Mohlar said he had medical tests that proved Lynn Zeigler had never been pregnant in her life.

“No one has ever seen this baby,” he said.

“The only way the Zeiglers can protect themselves in the [welfare] case is to prove there is no child,” Studstrup said. “But at the same time, that would prove guilt in the fraud case.”

Citing concerns that John Zeigler was a flight risk, Studstrup continued his bail at $75,000 single surety or $15,000 cash, and Lynn Zeigler’s bail at $60,000 single surety or $10,000 cash.

“But if they have not made bail by Wednesday, Nov. 19, I will take a second look at that,” said Studstrup.

John Zeigler is being held at Somerset County Jail in Skowhegan and Lynn Zeigler is at Kennebec County Jail in Augusta.

Although the only charges lodged against the couple center on the fraud issue, the questions around whether there is, in fact, a Rose Zeigler remain under investigation, said Urquhart.

“We don’t know if the child existed,” admitted Spencer. “The Zeiglers may very well accept the theft charge so they won’t have to deal with the [issues surrounding] the child.”