More than 40 years after children waiting for a school bus discovered a baby’s body on the side of the road in Vermont, state police have found the baby’s parents and announced that they will not be filing charges.
The dead infant was found in Northfield on April 1, 1982, state police said Wednesday. Investigators have determined the dead infant was a recently born boy, but his identity is unknown. An autopsy could not determine the cause of death or whether the infant died from a pre-existing medical condition, police said.
Police said their initial investigation did not turn up any information that could help identify the baby or his parents, and no evidentiary DNA testing was done at the time, so the case remained open.
NYC cold case victim, age 50, identified after DNA matches 9/11 victim
In 2020, state police worked with a DNA technology company on a donation-funded study to conduct genealogy analysis, and in 2021 the company provided the names of the possible biological mother and father of the baby, who had a 1982 connection to the Northfield area.
The parents of a baby found dead on the side of a Vermont road more than 40 years ago have been identified, but no criminal charges are expected to be filed.
Vermont State Police said they contacted the two at their home in Maine, took DNA samples and confirmed they were the parents. The father told police he had no knowledge of the pregnancy or disposal of the dead baby because he left Vermont for an extended period of time in 1982. The mother admitted to illegally disposing of the dead baby. She said she did not know she was pregnant and had no symptoms until she felt abdominal pains. She told police she was in labor alone for several hours and lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, she realized she had given birth to the baby, but the umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck and the baby did not survive, police said.
According to police, she had been planning to look for a place in the woods to bury her baby, but while walking through the woods she thought she heard voices and became scared. She slipped and the baby fell from her arms, so she ran away.
Click here to get the FOX News app
State police met with the county prosecutor about the case, who determined that murder charges were unjustified, police said. The charge of unauthorized disposal of a body is beyond the statute of limitations, police said.
