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DNA from a soda bottle allegedly has linked a Massachusetts woman to the 1985 death of her newborn son, who was found dead in the woods by a father and son hunting rabbits, authorities said this week.
Dianne Curry Peck, 59, appeared in court on Tuesday, where she pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in connection with the death of her son, who became known as “Baby Boy Doe” of Mansfield, Massachusetts.
“Few cases are more heartbreaking than one involving a newborn baby, allegedly abandoned and left to die in the woods by his mother, deprived of the care, love and protection every child deserves,” FBI Boston Special Agent-in-Charge Ted Docks said outside the courthouse. “For 41 years, this child was known simply as Baby Boy Doe. He entered this world with limitless promise, but was denied the most basic right to live.”
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The newborn’s body was discovered on Jan. 26, 1985, by a father and son who noticed a set of footprints in the snow. The pair initially thought the child was a doll before realizing it was a naked infant lying on the ground, WCVB reported.
An autopsy determined the child was born alive before dying a short time later.
“It was naked, lying on its back; the umbilical cord was still attached to the baby,” Kenneth Martin, who at the time was working as a Massachusetts State Police trooper assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, told the outlet.
The Mansfield Police Department, along with former New England Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan, paid for the baby’s funeral, Boston 25 News reported.
The case went cold until Bristol County investigators reopened it in 2022, partnering with the FBI and state authorities.
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Using forensic genetic genealogy, investigators analyzed the baby’s DNA, which eventually led them to Peck.
DNA recovered from a soda bottle taken from her trash ultimately linked her to the child, authorities said.
At the time of the birth, Peck was a 17-year-old student at Mansfield High School. She allegedly admitted to investigators that she had given birth to a child in the back seat of her ex-boyfriend’s car, Boston 25 reported.
She claimed she gave the baby to him because he said he knew someone who would adopt the infant. Peck told investigators she believed she had given birth to a girl and never spoke to her ex-boyfriend again. He died in 2020, according to the FBI.
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Prosecutors also noted there is no evidence that anyone — including Peck’s ex-boyfriend — knew she was pregnant, according to the news outlet.
Peck allegedly told police she gave birth on Jan. 20, 1985, but prosecutors argued in court that the timeline is inconsistent with the condition of the baby’s body and the freezing temperatures at the time.
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According to a medical examiner, the infant had likely been in the woods for only about 12 hours before being discovered.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office and Peck’s attorney.
