The Ontario Provincial Police are hoping that a three-dimensional facial approximation, along with a video and a $50,000 reward may lead to identifying a child whose body was discovered two years ago in the Grand River at Dunnville.
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The remains were discovered May 17, 2022, on the southern bank of the Grand River — in a marshy area known locally as Grand Island — downstream of the dam by two people fishing in a boat.
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Missing persons databases have been checked on a global level, but police say nobody has reported the child missing.
An OPP forensic artist/reconstruction analyst created a 3D-printed skull from a CT scan to complete a facial approximation of a female child that, at the time of death, was between the ages of 10-and-a-half months and three years of age.
Police say investigative genetic genealogy results have determined the child’s heritage to be half Asian (Chinese or neighboring countries along the southern Chinese border) and half North African.
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Public appeals have been made to people who may have rented to or were neighbors of a family with a small child that left town suddenly. Investigators have also checked with area schools where a potential older sibling may have left unexpectedly.
“It’s hard to stand there and look down at the body of this poor child in the water and understand how somebody could throw a child away like that,” said Det. Insp, Shawn Glassford in the newly produced video The Grand River Baby: Unsolved. “There could be a number of different reasons why this child was placed in the water, and we want to know why.”
Anyone who knows this child or has information that may help identify her is urged to contact a dedicated tip line at 1-844-677-9403.
Anonymous tips can be provided by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at ontariocrimestoppers.ca/submit-a-tip.
“I can’t imagine it’s a good feeling to walk around every day and know what you’ve done,” Glassford said. “I think that coming forward might help with that and bring some peace to this child. We want to give this child her name back.”
The video Grand River Baby: Unsolved can be viewed at opp.ca/news/
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