Woman charged with 1985 murder of newborn son found in snow in Mansfield, Massachusetts

A woman has been charged with the murder of her newborn son more than 41 years ago in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

Dianne Curry Peck, 59, of Attleboro, was indicted Monday by a Bristol County Grand Jury. She pleaded not guilty to a murder charge Tuesday in Fall River Superior Court and was released on $10,000 bail.

Back on January 26, 1985, a father and son went rabbit hunting in the woods off Fruit Street in Mansfield. The father noticed footprints in the snow that ended at a stone wall. When he went over the wall, he found the naked body of a newborn baby partially covered by the snow. The medical examiner determined that the boy had been born alive but died a short time after birth.

"The baby was found sunk into the snow and it appeared that body heat from the baby melted the snow under the baby, turning it to ice," prosecutor Jason Mohan said at the arraignment Tuesday.

Mansfield police had a funeral for the baby. It was paid for by the police and the New England Patriots quarterback at the time, Steve Grogan. Police videotaped the funeral but never identified a suspect and the case went cold for decades. 

Then, in April 2022, the Bristol County District Attorney's office expanded its cold case unit to identify several unidentified bodies found in the last 40 years. 

"Using forensic genetic genealogy, the FBI was able to use DNA from the baby to establish a potential family tree of the baby's relatives," Mohan said. That led them to Dianne Curry, who was a 17-year-old senior at Mansfield High School in January 1985.

In 2024, investigators took trash from her home and Mohan said DNA from a soda bottle led them to believe she was the mother.

In August 2025, state and local police interviewed her and they said she told them she had a baby in 1985.

"She stated that she learned that she was pregnant in the summer of 1984, pregnant with the baby of an ex-boyfriend. She admitted that she hid her pregnancy from all her family, friends, and relatives. She admitted that the baby was born alive, stating that she had a pact with her ex-boyfriend and that she delivered the baby in her ex-boyfriend's car," Mohan said.

The ex-boyfriend was also a 17-year-old senior at Mansfield High School.

"She stated that after she delivered the baby, she gave the baby to her now ex-boyfriend and that he said he would take it and give it to a family for adoption. She stated that she never spoke to the ex-boyfriend again after this incident," Mohan said.

When Curry Peck was asked about the extensive media coverage in 1985 about the discovery of a baby about a mile-and-a-half from her house, she allegedly told investigators she believed she gave birth to a baby girl. According to Mohan, she also said she never checked the sex of the infant for herself before giving the baby to the ex-boyfriend, so she thought it was "unrelated."

Curry Peck said she gave birth on January 20, but the medical examiner's report disputed that. A DNA swab later confirmed she was the mother. The ex-boyfriend, who was not identified in court, died in 2020.  DNA was taken from one of his relatives, and it confirmed the ex-boyfriend was the father.

"The investigators were not able to determine a single individual who had knowledge that Miss Peck was pregnant in 1985. No information was gathered to believe that the ex-boyfriend was involved in the case or even knew that she was pregnant," Mohan said.

Curry Peck was booked at the Mansfield police station on Tuesday. She was released on bail and ordered to hand in her passport. She's due back in court for a pre-trial conference on August 31.

"The allegations in question undoubtedly Invoke a visceral reaction. Having said that, we would ask all parties reserve judgement until all the facts present themselves. Miss Peck looks forward to her day in court," her attorney Jason Maloney told reporters after the arraignment.

Mansfield, Massachusetts is 32 miles south of Boston.