NEVER FORGOTTEN

Mom Charged in Cold Case of ‘Baby Mary’ Who Was Found Dead in 1984

The newborn was found in the New Jersey woods—and it took almost four decades to figure out who did it.

Police say they have cracked the case of a newborn girl found dead in the woods of New Jersey, wrapped in plastic and a blanket, in 1984. The tiny victim, who was born alive a day before being discovered, was nicknamed Baby Mary in Mendham, where residents still gather at her grave every year. Through advancements in DNA, detectives were able to identify the child’s father, who died in 2009 without knowing he was briefly a dad. They also located the mother, who was 17 at the time of the birth and now lives in South Carolina, and have charged her with manslaughter as a minor. “We believe with this juvenile delinquency complaint, justice is being served for Baby Mary,” Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said.