“Baby Doe” may not have gone far. In fact, while she was found on a rocky shoreline in Boston Harbor, experts don’t even know whether her body spent time in the water.
That’s what experts think now based on the latest information they have on the mysterious girl, whose adorable brown eyes and cherubic face — as rendered by forensic artist Christi Andrews and distributed by authorities in Massachusetts — caught the attention of millions.
The tiny body was found June 25 wrapped in a black trash bag, wearing polka dot pants lying next to a zebra blanket along the shore of Deer Island, a narrow peninsula just east of Boston’s Logan Airport. The tragedy was evident from the start, but the girl’s identity as well as her story, was not.
Among other clues, authorities tried to piece it together by taking pollen found on the girl’s pants and blanket and sending it to a government lab for analysis.
Experts there determined that this pollen “came from trees and plants around Boston,” said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney”s Office.
“This pollen analysis also suggests that ‘Baby Doe’ may have been placed on the shoreline, rather than washed ashore from a great distance,” added Wark.
While a lot remains unknown, this discovery seemingly rules out some possibilities — such as the idea that the girl’s body had been floating at sea for a long time from a long distance away.
Many, though, are still waiting for a more definitive answer, including the more than 50 million people who have seen or shared Andrews’ composite of what the girl known as “Baby Doe” may have appeared in life.
Investigators have looked into hundreds of tips from 30 states and at least four countries, though none have produced a breakthrough yet. Nor did DNA tests.
Authorities believe that “Baby Doe” was about 4 years old at the time of her death. She was a 3 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 30 pounds.
“Science may give us an indication on where she is from,” said Wark. “But we believe it will take a person who knew her to tell us who she was,” said Wark.