‘Baby Mary’ Homicide Cold Case Timeline: Everything That We Know

MENDHAM, NJ — For nearly four decades, a cloud of mystery has shrouded the circumstances surrounding the finding of the lifeless newborn found abandoned on Christmas Eve in 1984 in Mendham Township.

On Thursday, Morris County officials announced that an arrest had finally been made in the death of “Baby Mary.”

Officials from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office stated that the baby's mother was arrested in South Carolina on April 24, nearly 40 years after allegedly leaving her daughter to die in Dismal Harmony Park.

• Read more: NJ's Abandoned 'Baby Mary's' Parents Identified After 39 Years

Baby Mary was discovered along Mt. Pleasant Road when two 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. It was assumed that the small girl had been abandoned within the previous 24 hours, as her umbilical cord was still attached.

Since then, authorities have been searching for leads in the perplexing cold case, reopening it several times, most recently in 2014, when the hope was that bringing together multiple agencies and modern technologies would help develop leads and provide closure.

Below is a timeline of events leading up to Thursday's announcement in the Baby Mary case:

Dec. 24, 1984: Two boys were fishing in an area off Mount Pleasant Road called Dismal Harmony Park Woodland Lake when they came across the trash bags and opened them out of curiosity. They discovered an infant girl wrapped in a towel who had died from exposure and hypothermia inside.

1984-1985: The Mendham Township Police Department ran through their paces to pursue leads. They canvassed the community, checked hospital records in multiple counties, and visited high schools to see if there was a teen who may have been hiding a pregnancy.

1987: Baby Mary was subsequently adopted by the Mendham Township Police Department with the assistance of Chaplain Father Mike Drury and buried at St. Joseph Church cemetery off Route 24, in Mendham Borough.

1987: Police begin an annual Christmas Eve memorial service at her graveside, attended by local police officers and members of the public.

2014: Chief Steven Crawford called for a re-examination of Baby Mary’s case for the upcoming 30th anniversary.

2014: Mendham Township Detectives James Arnesen and Jason Morrison took the lead on the case, with assistance from Sergeants Steve Bittman and Daniel Taquinto. Outside authorities are also assisting, including Detective Michael Gomez of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and officers of the New Jersey State Police.

2014: Additional tissue samples from Baby Mary were given to the state for further testing.

2014-2023: A DNA match between Baby Mary and the parents was made.

April 24, 2023: A juvenile delinquency complaint was filed against the biological mother of Baby Mary.

Remembering Baby Mary

A portrait of Baby Mary still hangs on a plaque commemorating the five-year anniversary of her discovery in current Mendham Township Police Chief Ross Johnson's office.

Baby Mary is currently resting near another unknown baby, "Hope," a cold case of an abandoned infant found dead near Route 78 on Dec. 18, 1991, who was discovered seven years after Baby Mary was found, police said.

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

Isaiah 49:15 is the epitaph, which reiterates the child’s place with those who have embraced her case as well as in heaven, the scripture reading, “I will never forget you, I have carved you in the palm of my hand.”

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

The poem's first stanzas say, "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 days."