Vermont State Police are closing the 1982 case of a baby found dead in Northfield

Vermont State Police announced last week that they have identified the parents of a baby found dead on the side of the road in Northfield more than 40 years ago.

The names of the parents are not being released because no criminal charges will be filed, state police said.

The child, whom investigators call “Baby Doe,” was found on April 1, 1982, by a group of children waiting for a school bus on what is now known as Gillespie Road in Northfield.

The medical examiner found signs that the baby boy had a pre-existing medical condition, but the examiner was unable to determine the cause or manner of death.

Investigators searched the area and collected evidence, but were unable to identify the baby or his parents until December 2021.

Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based DNA technology company that partnered with VSP, used 42-year-old blood and tissue samples from the baby to create a list of people who could be the child’s parents.

Detectives discovered that two of the names on the list in 1982 had ties to the Northfield area, and after collecting DNA samples from them, they confirmed that the two adults were the parents of the child found in Northfield.

More from Vermont Public: VSP’s Major Crime Unit investigates dozens of cold cases. It can be a challenge to help them move forward

According to VSP, the father told investigators that he had left Vermont in 1982 and had no knowledge of the pregnancy.

The mother told investigators she didn’t realize she was pregnant until she went into labor. The woman fainted while having the baby and woke up to find the child dead, state police said in a news release.

The woman took the baby to a wooded area to bury him, but dropped the baby and ran away when she thought she heard voices, said Capt. Jeremy Hill, the commander of VSP’s Major Crime Unit.

“It clearly wasn’t the right thing to do,” Hill said in an interview. “But at that moment she was scared – she didn’t know what to do.”

Washington County State’s Attorney Michelle Donnelly determined after reviewing statements from the baby’s parents and autopsy reports that the murder charge was not warranted.

“We still don’t have enough evidence to say this was an intentional act by the mother,” Hill said.

The other possible charge, unauthorized disposal of a corpse, could not be filed because the statute of limitations for that charge is three years.

The Baby Doe case was one of more than 80 unsolved murder and missing persons cases in Vermont. Developing these cold cases further is a challenge, and police have solved only a few cold cases in the past decade.

Burlington police announced last year that they had solved the 50-year-old murder of Rita Curran, and in 2022 the Major Crime Unit arrested a suspect in a 1989 double homicide.

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