No criminal charges will be filed in the 1982 death of “Baby Doe,” Vermont State Police announced Wednesday, bringing the long-standing investigation to a close.
More than four decades after a group of schoolchildren found a deceased infant off the side of a road in Northfield, the techniques of genetic genealogy helped identify the baby’s biological parents. It is one of the first times that DNA has revived a cold case like this one in Vermont, according to Captain Jeremy Hill, who outlined the case for reporters in an afternoon video conference.
“The technology has advanced to the point where we’re able to do this now,” said Hill, who heads the state police’s Major Crime Unit.
After reviewing the evidence, including statements from both the mother and father, Washington County’s state’s attorney Michelle Donnelly said she decided not to charge the couple with murder.
“The evidence that was developed in the case didn’t point to any intentional act that would point to a murder case,” Donnelly said in an interview.
The discovery of the baby in April 1982 shocked the Northfield community. Waiting for the schoolbus on Gillespie Road, the children observed a dog dragging a sealed plastic garbage bag. When they went to investigate, they found a dead boy inside wrapped in a brown bath towel, according to police reports.
An autopsy conducted by then-Vermont Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Paul Morrow identified Baby Doe as a full-term infant. Morrow could not say whether the baby had been born alive, nor determine how he had died.
A few weeks later, Reverend Frank Wisner III held a funeral service for the child at St. Mary’s Church in Northfield and christened him Matthew Isaac Doe. As is the case in all suspicious unsolved deaths, investigators kept blood and tissue samples.
Though the manner of the infant’s death remained undetermined, investigators treated it as a homicide. They collected evidence, canvassed the area and conducted interviews, but their efforts in identifying the baby or locating the parents were fruitless.
The case went cold for decades. In 2020, however, state police partnered with Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based DNA technology company. The work conducted by the lab was powered by donations from nonprofit organizations that offer grants to help solve potential violent crimes.
“This is a major step. We couldn’t have done it alone…without the nonprofits that raised money,” said Hill.
In December 2021, using swabs from the infant and the towel he had been found bundled in, Parabon identified the baby’s possible biological parents. The couple lived in Maine, but had connections to Northfield in 1982.
With the Maine State Police, detectives went to the couple’s residence and obtained DNA swabs. The results confirmed that they were the biological parents of the infant, according to Hill.
The detectives spoke with both parents for an extended period of time, Hill said. The father said he had left Vermont in 1982 and had no knowledge of either the pregnancy or of the deceased infant.
The mother admitted to the unlawful disposal of the infant, according to state police. The mother told investigators that she had not known she was pregnant and had gone into labor by surprise when she was alone. During her labor, the mother said she lost consciousness and, upon waking, found she had delivered a baby boy with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.
When the baby died, the mother said she wanted to give it a proper burial in the woods. While in the woods, she became frightened, saying she thought she had heard voices. She told the detectives she slipped, dropped the baby, and ran away from the area.
“There’s nothing that leads us to believe that she’s not being truthful, we’ve seen this in other mothers,” said Hill.
In 2022, a second autopsy conducted by current Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Bundock confirmed Murrow’s original 1982 results: the cause and manner of death could not be determined.
According to Donnelly, the Washington County State’s Attorney’s office began working with law enforcement on the case in February 2023. She determined that the mother’s unauthorized disposal of the dead body was beyond the statute of limitations. Donnelly also concluded that the evidence did not warrant a charge of murder.
“The medical examiners’ reports and the mother’s story told the most complete story about what happened,” said Donnelly.
She said she hopes the long-overdue resolution of Baby Doe’s death brings solace to everyone involved.
“It’s certainly been an unsettling mystery that we hope brings closure to the community, and most importantly to this family,” said Donnelly.
Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘Baby Doe’ death investigation closes after four decades with no criminal charges.