Brantford, Ontario — , July 28, 2005, a newborn found dead beside a Brantford, Ont. street was buried without a real name.
Baby Parker was found wrapped in a towel by a local woman walking her dog near Parkside Drive and Dufferin Avenue. The next day, Brantford police received a call from somebody who found a "bloodied object" in their backyard, which was revealed to be Baby Parker's placenta through DNA.
The baby's body was taken to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto for a post mortem examination while police canvassed the area. They visited over 200 homes and took DNA samples in the hopes of tracking down a match.
"The residents in the neighbourhood were extremely cooperative with police," a news release reads. "Just fewer than 100 samples were collected, and all were analyzed by the Centre of Forensics and found to have no biological link to baby Parker."
A week later, Brantford police received a handwritten letter from "a young girl" claiming to be Baby Parker's mother. In the letter, she wrote that she knew she was pregnant but kept it a secret because she didn't know who the baby's father was. While she was partying at a local park, she went into labor, where a female friend helped her deliver the baby. Her friend claimed the baby was dead and disposed of the body in some bushes.
The letter says the mother was partying at Lansdowne Park when she went into labour. "I didn't know what to do," the letter reads. "My friend helped me through it - she told me my baby was dead. She told me she was going to place it in the bushes and we'd come back later."
The letter ended with the writer begging the police not to perform DNA tests on the baby out of fear that his father may be located, as he had nothing to do with it, and she was eventually going to come forward about what happened after she mustered up the courage.
Police have not heard from the writer since. Fingerprints were found on the letter but have not matched to anyone in any databases.
Characteristics
- A DNA profile revealed that Baby Parker was 89% Caucasian and 11% percent Native American. Both of his parents would've looked Caucasian in appearance.
- Baby Parker was born alive but had trauma to his ribs and skull.
- No drugs or alcohol were found in Baby Parker's system.
The towel Baby Parker was wrapped in a beige "Select Editions" towel and a "Sea Same" tag. It was 100% cotton, 2' x 4' in size, and made by Cambridge Company. The towel was in good condition.
"If you were with a group of youths in any of the parks or local hang out spots several days prior to the discovery of the lifeless infant's body please come forward," a police statement reads. "You may hold key information without realizing the importance."
The baby is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.
Anyone with information is asked to call Brantford police at 519-756-0113 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
