» Investigators haven’t given up on 1983 ‘Baby Moses’ case,
Officials ‘not giving up’ on 1983 case in Martin County.
STUART — More than three decades before a deceased baby girl was found floating in the Boynton Inlet, there was Martin County’s case of Baby Moses.
On Nov. 25, 1983, a days-toweeks old infant was found floating near a dock in the St. Lucie River. Nearly 35 years later, Martin County Sheriff ’s Office investigators remain determined to find Baby Moses’ killer.
“We’re not giving up,” Martin County Sheriff ’s Lt. Mike Dougherty said Thursday. “This case will never be closed until we come to a conclusion on what happened. It will not go away.”
Last Friday, an off-duty Boynton Beach firefighter found a dead baby about 75 to 100 feet offshore in the ocean north of the inlet. Palm Beach County authorities said the baby, a girl, was likely born in a hospital.
Dougherty noted the similarities between the Baby Moses case and the one the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office is investigating, but said they present different challenges because of the limits of the technology and the way records were kept 35 years ago.
“With Palm Beach County’s case, they have the baby and they’re able to identify DNA. They’re able to identify a cause of death . ... ” Dougherty said.
“With our case, going back 35 years, we’re dealing with all sorts of obstacles. One of the main ones that we’re coming across is the DNA, trying to locate a mother or somebody to match it up to, and trying to extract DNA out of a child from 35 years ago.”
Martin County investigators said Baby Moses was believed to have been between three days and three weeks old when his body was found. The baby was alive when someone dropped him into the river behind The Landings townhome community on St. Lucie Boulevard, investigators said at the time. The newborn was not identified, so detectives at the time called him “Baby Moses” after the biblical prophet found floating in water.
The case was reopened in September 2015 with Martin County investigators hoping to take advantage of newer technology. The infant’s remains were exhumed from a Stuart cemetery the following January with the help of a team of forensic scientists from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.
The remains were later sent to a University of North Texas lab, known nationally for using cutting-edge technology in forensic science and molecular identification.
The lab continues to analyze DNA in hopes of helping Martin County investigators identify Baby Moses’ parents. There have been promising leads, but many challenges to solving the case remain, Dougherty said.
“There’s possibilities, but it’s hard to positively iden- tify who Baby Moses’ mother could have been,” he said. “We’ve had several leads that are very good leads. But knowing who it is and proving it are two totally separate things.”
The sheriff ’s office is asking anyone with information to call the Criminal Investigations Division. Tips can be submitted anonymously to the sheriff ’s office by calling 772-220-7060 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 800-273-TIPS (8477).
“We believe that somebody knows the identity of Baby Moses,” Dougherty said. “They just have to have the conscience to come forward for the sake of the child and let us know what happened that day. Somebody knows something.”