‘Somebody out there…knows who this little girl is’

Investigators are searching the continent for clues to identify a toddler whose remains were discovered in the Grand River near Dunnville last spring.

But so far, police do not know who “Baby Doe” was or how she died.

“Not yet,” OPP Det. Insp. Shawn Glassford told The Spectator. “We’re no further ahead, at this point, in identifying the child.”

There has been no progress either on narrowing down her age, which is estimated as 10.5 months to 2.5 years.

Glassford, who handles major cases for the OPP’s criminal investigation branch, was brought in after fishermen found Baby Doe’s remains at the northeast edge of Dunnville’s main bog island, just east of the dam, in May of last year.

“We’ve checked missing person files all over North America,” Glassford said. “We’ve been conversing with different police agencies in Canada and the United States.”

Glassford said it is “rare” for the child not to have been reported missing.

“In my 35 years being a police officer, I’ve never investigated anything like this before,” he said.

While detectives work the phones, they also wait for the results of DNA testing Glassford hopes will yield useful clues.

“The DNA can tell us a lot. Genealogy is a big thing,” he said, explaining that narrowing down what part of the world Baby Doe’s family comes from could help police create a visual image of the child.

After the grisly discovery, the toddler’s deteriorated remains were taken to the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto for an autopsy and further testing, including toxicology.

Glassford declined to say whether the remains show evidence of foul play, saying some elements of the investigation must remain confidential pending a possible criminal case.

Along with the child’s identity and cause of death, investigators are also trying to determine how long she was in the river before she was found.

“That’s not absolute,” Glassford said. “We have an idea of ​​how long she might have been in the water, but we’re not 100 per cent sure.”

And while investigators cannot be certain where the child’s body entered the river, Glassford expects it was “a short distance” from the bog island.

“I don’t think she was in the river a great distance, because going over certain dams, there would have been some evidence of that,” he said.

The discovery shocked and saddened the small community in Haldimand County, with hundreds of residents gathering by the river for a candlelight vigil.

With no word from police in nearly a year, Glassford can appreciate residents are anxious for an update.

“I know it sounds like, ‘What’s taking so long?’ But the process of DNA testing takes time,” he said, noting some testing is done by overseas labs.

“We wait patiently for results that we can hopefully be able to use and get some further information out to the public,” he said.

While they wait, investigators follow up on tips that continue to come in.

“We haven’t stopped, and I know that the community hasn’t forgotten about her,” Glassford said.

Investigators were encouraged by news that Toronto police recently identified a four-year-old girl whose remains were found in a dumpster in that city in May 2022.

In that case, police said DNA and genetic testing, along with a tip from the public, helped them identify the deceased, whose cause of death remains unknown.

Much like Dunnville’s Baby Doe, the child found in Toronto had not been reported missing.

“That’s positive, and that’s helpful for us to think that we’re hopefully going to be able to identify this little girl,” Glassford said.

The police tip line is still active at 1-844-779-9403, and Glassford’s team wants to hear from anyone who may have information that could help, such as memories of a child or family who suddenly left the community.

“It’s not too late. Just give us a call,” Glassford said.

“There’s somebody out there, right now, who knows who this little girl is.”

JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.