36-Year-Old Mystery Of NJ Baby's Christmas Eve Death Lingers

MENDHAM, NJ - On Christmas Eve in 1984, the lifeless body of a newborn baby was discovered in the woods by a couple of boys playing. And 36 years later there are still no answers as to who she was and why she died.

The baby, later named Mary, was discovered along Mt. Pleasant Road when the boys came across a bag by a small waterfall. In the bag was the body of a baby that had been abandoned and died from exposure and hypothermia. The little girl was estimated to have been abandoned within the past 24 hours. She still had her umbilical cord attached.

Over the years the case has been reopened several times, most recently in 2014, when the hope was to use multiple agencies and new technology would help develop leads and provide closure. While that has not been the case thus far, it has helped keep Baby Mary in everyone's minds, ensuring she will not be forgotten.

This year there will be a memorial held at noon Thursday at Saint Joe's Church in Mendham Borough. The yearly remembrance is always attended by members of the Mendham Township Police Department, fitting because Mary was adopted by the department and given a proper burial. Like previous years, Thursday's remembrance is open to the public.

Perfect Child

She was formally named Mary by Father Mike Drury, a chaplain for the police department.

"She was a perfect, perfect child," Drury told Patch previously. "Someone was fearful to have a child. All she had to do was drop her off somewhere. It was very disturbing."

Drury, who just that year had been named chaplain, said the emotional trauma took its toll on both he and the police officers.

"We talked about it, we worked together to come to terms with it," he said. "The police officers' reactions were very normal to an abnormal situation."

Early into the investigation more emotions came to the forefront.

"It was exhausting and frustrating," said retired police chief Tom Costanza, who was a detective on the force in 1984. "We have this victim that has no history. We couldn't develop any leads from that. We used newspapers to get the word out, said we were looking for residents who were recently pregnant and so on. But we just couldn't develop anything."

Because of the location of where the baby was left, Costanza told Patch the mother, or whomever left Baby Mary near that river, had to know the area.

At the time, the police department ran through their paces to pursue leads. They canvassed the community, checked hospital records in multiple counties and visiting high schools to see if there was a teen that may have been hiding a pregnancy.

All those leads ran cold.

The case was reopened several times over the last 36 years, most recently in 2014 by the Mendham Township Police Department with the help of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and New Jersey State Police.

"We want it to bring closure for both this agency and the mother of the child," Mendham Township Police Chief Steve Crawford told Patch when the investigation was reopened. Crawford has since retired.

The hope at the time was that the additional resources, agencies and technology would bring answer, and possibly even a suspect. Thus far, that has not been so, and the case remains open.

"While this case is still open, we hope to have answers one day to bring it the closure it deserves especially for her," current Mendham Township Police Chief Ross Johnson said.

Baby Mary is never far from the hearts of the Mendham Township Police Department, a photo hangs in Johnson's office on a plaque from the five-year anniversary of her discovery.

"As each year passes we try to honor her memory on Christmas Eve at noon, so she is not forgotten," Johnson said.

Johnson also noted that the memorial can server another purpose.

"It is also a nice reminder to appreciate those around this holiday season and to reach out to those who may not have anyone," he said.

Roses In December

Johnson also marks the occasion by reading the poem "Roses in December" at the grave site.

Roses in December
God gave us memory
that we may have roses
in December and snowflakes
in July.
That we may find laughter
amid the tears and
sunshine even on
the darkest of days.

God gave us memory
that we may see the
face of those we love
even when they can't
be near. And to recall
what we can no longer
talk about together.

God gave us memory that
we may never forget.

As the Mendham Township Police again noted this week, the case remains open.

This post contains reporting by Jason Koestenblatt.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.