A woman arrested for domestic abuse 39 years after her rescue from a well gripped the world hinted at her recent troubles in a troubling social media post.
‘Baby Jessica’ McClure Morales, 40, took to Facebook on Monday with a cryptic statement, two days after she was arrested at her home in Midland, Texas.
‘Note to self: Happiness is letting go of what you assume your life is supposed to be like right now, and sincerely appreciating it for everything that it is,’ the post said.
‘So, relax. Reset. You are enough. You have enough. You do enough. Breathe deep. Let go, and just live right now.’
No further details on McClure Morales’s arrest have been shared and it is unclear if the person she was referring to on the social media post was her husband of 20 years Daniel Morales.
The Daily Mail has contacted McClure Morales herself and Midland County Sheriff’s Office for further comment.
Few would judge McClure Morales for having to rely on online philosophy, as both she and her family have endured turbulent times in recent years.
Most shocking was the brutal murder of her father’s stepdaughter Gracey Adams, 25, in January of this year.
Adams – whose mother Amy is now married to Jessica’s father Chip McClure – was found dead in the bedroom of her Nashville home.
Jessica McClure Morales, better known as ‘Baby Jessica’, is seen with her husband Daniel Morales and her two grandchildren
She was arrested on Saturday night on suspicion of domestic abuse at her home in Midland, Texas
After bailing out of jail, the mother of two appeared to reflect on her life in a Facebook post
Her girlfriend Sarah Stacey, 29, was charged with the murder and the case is ongoing. McClure Morales has not commented publicly on the tragedy.
News of McClure Morales’s arrest brought memories of her October 1987 rescue flooding back for many Americans.
Aged just 18 months old, ‘Baby Jessica’ fell down a 22 foot well in the backyard of her aunt’s house in Midland after climbing into an eight-inch wide pipe.
The 58-hour digging and drilling rescue attempt captivated the world, with then-President Ronald Reagan calling McClure Morales ‘America’s child.’
It even inspired a satirical episode of The Simpsons where Bart Simpson falls down a well.
Just a few decades on, McClure Morales is herself both a mother and young grandmother.
She posed proudly with two of her twin grandchildren on Facebook last year.
Both of her children, Simon and Sheyenne, went on to have children of their own. Their sons are named Emiliano and Nolan, according to her Facebook page.
McClure Morales has her children with her husband of 20 years, Daniel Morales.
Her step-sister, Gracey Adams (pictured), 25, was fatally shot at her home in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 3
‘Baby Jessica’ McClure is pictured at the White House in November 1989. She is being held by then-President George H.W. Bush while her parents Reba and Chip look on
McClure Morales got trapped in a 25-foot well in her aunt’s backyard in 1987. Her rescue operation lasted 58 hours and gripped the United States. It was broadcast live on the three major networks
The pair are seen in a number of social media pictures posing for selfies together and holding their grandchildren.
She currently works as an assistant shop manager at Richards Horticulture, a local landscaping business, her bio reads.
McClure Morales resides in a rather ramshackle $388,000 home in Midland, having lost much of the $1.2 million trust fund set up after her rescue in the financial crash of 2008.
‘Baby Jessica’ only gained access to the trust, comprising donations from wellwishers, on her 25th birthday in 2011.
She used the remainder of the cash to buy her house outright.
Her father Chip McClure moves in altogether glitzier circles.
Chip, who famously accompanied ‘Baby Jessica’ to visit then-President George H.W. Bush at the White House in 1989, now owns and operates a private jet company out of Tennessee.
Chip, 56, and his wife Amy, 50, run Jet Acquisitions, a company that helps people with the process of ‘acquiring a new or preowned aircraft,’ according to the company’s website.
Chip is the founder and CEO, while his wife is a co-founder and CPO for the company.
Oil service workers and bystanders look over the 25-foot well she was trapped in on her aunt’s property on October 17, 1987
Chip McClure is the founder and CEO of Jet Acquisitions, a company that helps people with the process of ‘acquiring a new or preowned aircraft.’ He is seen alongside McClure Morales
‘Baby Jessica’ in 1989, two years after her rescue from a backyard well that gripped the world. Her father Chip is seen on the right
The entrepreneur often posts about his life as an aviation enthusiast, as well as the family he has with his wife.
Chip still appears to be proud of ‘Baby Jessica’ and her astonishing rescue and will sometimes re-share the story on social media.
In October 2025, he shared a link to a documentary his friend made on her rescue. ‘Hard to believe it has been 38 years!’ he captioned the post.
It is unclear when Chip and his ex-wife, McClure Morales’ mother, Reba McClure, 57, split up.
She also remarried. Her husband, Timothy Porter, 63, hung up the phone on the Daily Mail after confirming he was married to her.
The rescue of McClure Morales took 58 hours and was broadcast live on the three biggest US television networks – ABC, NBC and CBS.
All three interrupted their scheduled primetime programming to broadcast news of the rescue.
Rescuers had to drill a horizontal tunnel and a parallel shaft through rock to access McClure Morales as part of an intense mission that involved specialized techniques and equipment.
On her 25th birthday in March 2011, McClure Morales gained access to her $1.2 million trust fund, but because of the 2008 stock market crash, very little was left in her name
Chip McClure is seen with his wife Amy, the mother of McClure Morales’ murdered step-sister
McClure Morales decided to invest the little money she had left in her trust fund into her modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom home for her family in Midland (pictured)
While McClure Morales has endured testing times, she has clearly retained a sense of humor, with a recent tattoo reading ‘Well s**t’ an apparent joke about the incident that made her famous
During the rescue crew members reportedly heard the toddler singing before Robert O’Donnell, a paramedic at the scene, made his way through the tight tunnel and saved her.
McClure Morales may have endured more troubles and drama than many people, but a recent tattoo she had inked on her body hints at her indefatigable spirit.
‘Well s**t’ the inking reads, in an apparent humorous reference to the incident that catapulted McClure Morales to global fame.
The Daily Mail contacted the Midland County Sheriff’s Office and McClure Morales for comment.
