On March 21, 2004, a Harpers Ferry Park Ranger found a garbage bag on the bank of the Shenandoah River. In the garbage bag was a newborn baby with his umbilical cord still attached and three five-pound weights.
Eighteen years later and the town of Harpers Ferry is still trying to out who the newborn belonged to.
IN THE TRASH BAG WAS A NEWBORN BABY WRAPPED IN A PINK SHEET, THEN A WHITE SHEET, PLACED INTO A PLASTIC WHICH WAS TIED AND CLOSED, PLACED INSIDE ANOTHER TRASH BACH WITH THREE 5 POUNDS WEIGHTS, TIGHTED AND SHUT AND TOSSED OFF THE BRIDGE LANDING ABOUT 20 FEET AWAY FROM THE WATERS EDGE.
THE MEDICAL EXAMINER WAS ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT THE NEWBORN WAS THERE AT LEAST THREE MONTHS BUT COULD HAVE BEEN THERE LONGER, POSSIBLY AS LONG AS THREE MONTHS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT HE WAS ALIVE WHEN HE WAS PUT INSIDE THE TRASH BAG AND THAT THE 60FT FALL WAS MORE THAN LIKELY WHAT KILLED HIM.
IN LIFE, THE BABY DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A NAME UNTIL THE TOWN’S RESIDENTS MADE HIM THEIRS.
“He belongs to all of us now and we were the people who could do something for him” SAID HENRY CHRISTIE, A LOCAL CHIROPRACTOR AND CHAPLIN SAID.
THE BABY WOULD BE NAMED CHRISTIAN, WHICH MEANS (OF CHRIST).
AFTER THE STATE DID THEIR AUTOPSY, THEY WERE JUST GOING TO PUT HIM IN A PAUPER'S GRAVE. CHRISTIE, WHO OFFICIATED THE SERVICE FOR BABY CHRISTIAN IN APRIL OF 2004, SAID: "Sam and the sheriff and some others petitioned the state to get the child up here and he became a part of Jefferson County."
DNA SAMPLES WERE TAKEN FROM THE BABY, ALONG WITH FINGERPRINTS FROM THE BAG AND OTHER ITEMS IN IT. A 2014 ARTICLE FROM HERALD-MAIL MEDIA NOTED THAT ADDITIONAL FORENSIC TESTING HAD BEEN AUTHORIZED TO TRY TO SOLVE THE CASE.
A SUSPECT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN IDENTIFIED BUT DNA SAMPLES DID NOT MATCH, COLBERT SAID AT THE TIME. ACCORDING TO A JUNE 2004 ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE, SHERIFF ED BOOBER SAID POLICE STARTED FOCUSING ON A SUSPECT SHORTLY AFTER WE AREN’T SURE WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING BABY CHRISTIAN IN A GARBAGE BAG, WEIGHTED DOWN WITH 15 POUNDS MORE THAN HIS OWN WEIGHT.
MAYBE AN ANGRY FATHER WHO WANTED NO MORE CHILDREN WAS RESPONSIBLE, MAYBE A MOTHER WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OR WHO FEARED THE CHILD’S FATHER IF HE HAD TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANOTHER CHILD. REGARDLESS OF THE REASON THIS PERSON COMMITTED SUCH A TERRIBLE CRIME, THEY NEED TO BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE BECAUSE WHO IS TO SAY THEY WOULD NOT DO THE SAME THING AGAIN UNDER SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BABY CHRISTIAN DESERVES THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT HE DID NOT DESERVE TO BE LEFT IN A GARBAGE BAG, UNWANTED AND UNSOLVED…
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