The boyfriend of a woman whose toddler daughter was found dead inside a trash bag on a Boston Harbor beach this summer and became known as Baby Doe has been charged with murder.
Prosecutors announced the charge against Michael McCarthy on Friday. McCarthy is being treated at a Boston hospital for drug issues and can’t be reached for comment.
Baby Doe’s mother, Rachelle Bond, is under arrest on a charge of accessory to murder after the fact. She’s in custody and also can’t be reached for comment.
The name of the girl has been revealed as Bella Bond. She had come to be known as Baby Doe over the course of a monthslong investigation that included a massive social media campaign to learn her identity.
The Massachusetts House speaker says the mother and her boyfriend are blaming each other for the girl’s death.
The girl was 2 1/2 years old when she died. Her body was found June 25 inside a trash bag on Deer Island in Winthrop by a woman walking a dog.
Police immediately appealed to the public for help in identifying the girl. Using photos of her remains, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created a composite image of what the girl might have looked like when she was alive.
Within two weeks of the discovery of her body, the image of the chubby-cheeked, brown-eyed girl had tugged on heartstrings around the world. By early July, the image had been liked on the Massachusetts State Police Facebook page by more than 50,000 people and shared more than 615,000 times, reaching an estimated 47 million people.
Authorities set up an anonymous text line and were flooded with tips. The tips led authorities to check on the well-being of dozens of little girls but did not lead them to Baby Doe’s family.
Despite the widespread publicity, investigators had been frustrated for months trying to figure out who she was and how she died. There were no obvious signs of trauma to her body. An autopsy performed by the state medical examiner’s office did not immediately determine the manner or cause of her death.
Police chased down tips from around the world, but experts determined pollen on the girl’s blanket and leggings and in her hair came from trees found in New England.
Residents of the apartment building that police searched told reporters that investigators asked about a woman who used to live there.
Neighbors said they had not seen a girl who looked like the composite photo released by police since March or April. They said they were told she had been taken by child welfare.