ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- The head of the state Department of Social Services spoke out Thursday about the case of Attleboro-religious-sect member Rebecca Corneau.

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NewsCenter 5's David Brown said authorities believe that Corneau may have hidden her newborn baby. Investigators said that they searching for Mark Daneau and his family.

"We are looking for any information that anyone has about the whereabouts of the Daneau family. They've been missing since August. We believe the Daneaus may have information about the whereabouts of the baby. We believe the Daneaus may even have the baby," Massachusetts Department of Social Services Commissioner Harry Spence said.

So far, the existence of a baby is a matter of assertion.

"Nobody has seen the baby. The best evidence we have is labor," Spence said.

Spence cites convincing testimony from witnesses that Rebecca Corneau appeared to be pregnant. Investigators also visited a home last week while trying to find the Corneaus. Officials found a baby swing.

Rebecca and David Corneau refused to tell a judge last week whether Rebecca Corneau gave birth to a new baby.

They were ruled unfit parents in the same court last year, and their four children were taken from them by DSS.

"It borders on a witch hunt to be bringing them back into court for a proceeding like this," defense attorney J.W. Carney said.

"This is a group in whose hands two children have died. There's pretty solid evidence, pretty solid reason to believe that a child was born. You'd want to make sure that child is safe," Spence said.

In 1999, Rebecca Corneau gave birth to a baby that died during labor and a 10-month-old baby of another sect family was allegedly allowed to die of starvation.

Daneau was held for contempt of court last year on separate charges related to members of the religious sect.