THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280238
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 74 lines
Her casket was plain and white, a 24-inch fiberglass coffin. It was surrounded by a small medley of pink carnations and roses and a miniature teddy bear with a ``Love Me'' T-shirt.
Her simple burial lasted less than 30 minutes. No family member came to mourn. And she was only, at best guess, a few weeks old.
For the second time in nearly two years, police on Friday buried an abandoned baby girl found on a conveyor belt of trash by workers at a regional garbage-fuel plant in Portsmouth.
The identity and lineage of the black female infant - named ``Baby June'' by police because she was found in June this year - remains a mystery to detectives.
``It's been on my mind ever since it happened,'' said 78-year-old Inez Clary, who sat in front of the child's casket during her funeral. ``I wonder, does the mother have a conscience?''
``There are many agencies that would take a child,'' the Cavalier Manor great-grandmother said. ``She didn't have to end up like this.''
Clary was one of about 50 people - police officers and detectives, chaplains, sheriff's deputies and other citizens - gathered at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Chesapeake at noon to pray for the infant that had been anonymously discarded.
``We are acting as the family,'' Police Chaplain J.E. Chisolm said. ``It is necessary that we honor and respect this life. And we want to leave a positive message with the community.''
``I just think it's a shame for any child to be treated like that, but I know God has a place for her,'' said Marie Swain, a 76-year-old great-grandmother from Port Norfolk. ``I love children,'' she said, as tears filled her eyes.
``Baby June,'' weighing about 8 pounds, had no clothing or distinguishing marks when she was found in a pile of aluminum cans and other trash headed to an incinerator at the plant operated by the Southeastern Public Service Authority.
Police have had little luck in determining where the child came from. The plant receives trash from Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Portsmouth.
``We have not gotten anything since the day we found the body,'' said Det. Robert Huntington. ``Maybe this (public burial) will do something for us. We're trying to get some help.''
Police are still investigating a similar case from February 1995, when the body of a newborn girl was found among the trash at the garbage-fuel plant. A plant worker named the infant ``Angel Valentine'' and strangers donated a casket, gravesite and funeral. They have no leads in that case, either. MEMO: Police ask anyone with information on either case to call
Detectives W. Beard, M. Hike, R. Huntington and R. Simmons at 393-8536,
or Crime Line at 488-7777. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot
For the second time in nearly two years, police on Friday buried an
abandoned baby girl found on a conveyor belt of trash by workers at
a regional garbage-fuel plant in Portsmouth. At right, Portsmouth
police line up at Greenlawn Cemetery in Chesapeake as ``Baby June''
is buried. ``I just think it's a shame for any child to be treated
like that, but I know God has a place for her,'' said Marie Swain, a
76-year-old great-grandmother from Port Norfolk. by CNB