‘BABY JUNE’ REWARD OFFERED BY SHERIFF
Palm Beach County sheriff hopes someone has information in the case.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said he’ll put up a $10,000 reward for the arrest of those responsible for dumping into the Atlantic Ocean the infant now being dubbed “Baby June.”
“Someone has to know something. It’s time to come forward,” Bradshaw said in a tweet posted at midday Friday that included a video message.
A sheriff ’s investigator said Thursday it’s “very likely” the infant floated north from Broward County before she was found dead near the Boynton Inlet last week. He did not elaborate on how investigators know, but he did ask Broward news outlets to spread the word.
He also said the agency is working with its counterparts at the Broward County Sheriff ’s Office as well as other departments.
Despite that, PBSO reported Friday it had received few inquiries from Broward.
“It’s incomprehensible to me that people out there that have information about this case have not come forward,” Bradshaw said in the video, which lasted less than a minute. “You know out there who you are.”
The sheriff ’s office said Friday the reward money will come from PBSO coffers.
“June”— so named because she was found June 1 — was 4 to 7 days old; probably was black, Hispanic or of mixed race; and had been in the water six to 18 hours when she was found by an off-duty Boynton Beach firefighter Friday afternoon, PBSO Capt. Steven Strivelli said. The baby girl was floating 75 to 100 feet offshore and just north of the inlet.
Local and state authorities have said the child was naked but appeared to be at a healthy weight and showed no clear signs of trauma. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office said its investigation into the cause of her death could take weeks.
Strivelli would not say Thursday whether the Medical Examiner’s Office has determined the cause of death or whether investigators believe “June” was dead before she went into the water.
The sheriff ’s office will not confirm that it is contacting area hospitals for lists of people who had babies in the past two weeks.
Anyone with information is asked to call PBSO Detective Clifton Hamilton at (561) 688-4155.