'Baby Doe' May Have Spent Time In New England Before Death, Police Say
BOSTON (CBS) – Specialized testing in the search for the identity of a toddler found dead on Deer Island suggests she may have spent time in New England before her death.
The body of the little girl known as "Baby Doe," was found in a trash bag on June 25.
She is believed to have been about 4 years old. She had brown eyes and brown hair, weighed about 30 pounds, and stood about 3½ feet tall.
Investigators have tested her DNA and posted a computer-generated image of her across social media, billboards and television, but have not come up with any substantial leads.
So they're now trying something called stable isotope ratio analysis, which state police say, "compares residual oxygen isotopes in human hair and teeth with known levels in drinking water across various geographic locations."
Samples were sent to a lab in Utah that specializes in that type of analysis.
"We analyzed a tooth which would have represented her young childhood," said Lesley Chesson, President of IsoForensics. "She was very young so it would have been the years leading up to her death. For hair, in most cases, we look at a year's worth of hair growth. So we're reconstructing movements and their travel history in the year before death."
"Preliminary results suggest that the child may have spent time in any of several New England states, as well as other locations across the US," State Police said in a statement Tuesday.
"Scientists have not yet compared the biological evidence with drinking water samples in other countries. As a result, investigators are not drawing any specific conclusions on the analysis until it is complete."
Last month, investigators tested pollen samples from the trash bag in which she was found. Those results suggested she had spent "a significant amount of time in the Greater Boston area prior to her death," according to police.
As a result, they believe the girl died somewhere in the area.
State and Winthrop police have received about 150 unique leads as to her identity, but none has led to an identification.
Local volunteers are trying to distribute Baby Doe flyers to area school districts, hoping tens of thousands of school children can take a flyer home.
"(I'm) upset, frustrated. There's some anger. When you feel like something like this happened awfully close to home, the anger starts to occur when you realize nobody's talking," said organizer Lorraine Noel.
Anyone with information can text the word GIRL and their tip to 67283. You can also call police at 617-396-5655.
If you want to track the status of Baby Doe's case, you can follow it on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System website.
