Investigation into the death of “Baby Doe” is closed after four decades without charges

No charges will be filed in connection with the death of “Baby Doe” in 1982, the Vermont State Police announced on Wednesday, thus ending the long-running investigation.

More than four decades after a group of schoolchildren found a dead baby on the side of the road in Northfield, genetic genealogy techniques helped identify the baby’s biological parents. It’s one of the first times DNA has revived an unsolved case like this one in Vermont, according to Captain Jeremy Hill, who described the case to reporters in an afternoon video conference.

“The technology has advanced to the point where we can do that,” said Hill, who heads the state police’s major crimes division.

After reviewing the evidence, including statements from the mother and father, Washington County District Attorney Michelle Donnelly decided not to file murder charges against the couple.

“The evidence presented in the case did not indicate any intentional act that would indicate a murder case,” Donnelly said in an interview.

The baby’s discovery in April 1982 shocked the Northfield community. While waiting for the school bus on Gillespie Road, the children saw a dog dragging a sealed plastic garbage bag. When they went to investigate, they found a dead boy wrapped in a brown beach towel, according to police reports.

An autopsy performed by then-Chief Medical Examiner of Vermont Dr. Paul Morrow identified Baby Doe as a full-term child. Morrow could not say whether the baby was born alive or determine how it died.

A few weeks later, the Rev. Frank Wisner III held a memorial service for the child at St. Mary’s Church in Northfield and christened him Matthew Isaac Doe. As with all suspicious, unexplained deaths, investigators took blood and tissue samples.

Although the cause of the infant’s death was not yet determined, investigators suspected homicide. They collected evidence, searched the area and conducted interviews, but their efforts to identify the baby or locate the parents were unsuccessful.

The case remained unsolved for decades. However, in 2020, state police partnered with Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based DNA technology company. The lab’s work was funded by donations from nonprofit organizations that provide grants to solve potentially violent crimes.

“This is a big step. We couldn’t have done this alone … without the nonprofits that raised money,” Hill said.

In December 2021, Parabon identified the baby’s possible biological parents based on swabs taken from the infant and the towel he was found wrapped in. The couple lived in Maine but had ties to Northfield in 1982.

Investigators, along with Maine State Police, went to the couple’s home and took DNA swabs. The results confirmed that they were the baby’s biological parents, Hill said.

Investigators spoke at length with both parents, Hill said. The father said he left Vermont in 1982 and knew neither about the pregnancy nor the deceased child.

The mother admitted to having illegally disposed of the child, according to state police. The mother told investigators she did not know she was pregnant and labor began unexpectedly while she was alone. During labor, she lost consciousness and woke up to find she had given birth to a baby boy with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.

When the baby died, the mother said she wanted to give it an honorable burial in the forest. In the forest, she became frightened and said she heard voices. She told investigators that she slipped, dropped the baby and ran away.

“There is no reason to believe she is not telling the truth. We have seen this with other mothers,” Hill said.

In 2022, a second autopsy by current Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Bundock confirmed Murrow’s original findings from 1982: the cause and manner of death could not be determined.

According to Donnelly, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office began working with law enforcement on the case in February 2023. It concluded that the mother’s unauthorized disposal of the body was within the statute of limitations. Donnelly also concluded that the evidence did not justify a murder charge.

“The coroner’s reports and the mother’s story told the most complete story of what had happened,” Donnelly said.

She said she hopes the long-overdue resolution of Baby Doe’s death will bring comfort to everyone involved.

“It was certainly a disturbing mystery and we hope the community and especially this family can find closure with it,” Donnelly said.

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