Fits with the theme we have going, in a way....
"Many leads, little progress in mystery of Deer Island girl; Detectives try to identify little girl left dead on Deer Island" by Evan Allen and Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff August 08, 2015
It had been 41 days since the little girl’s body was discovered on a Deer Island beach, inside a black garbage bag, clothed in polka-dot leggings and a zebra-striped blanket. For 41 days, the State Police investigators assigned to the case had been beating their heads to find something — anything — that could give them even a faint idea of who the girl dubbed Baby Doe was, or where to look to uncover the mystery of her death.
There was so little to go on. Exhaustive searches of the island the day she was found turned up nothing. The autopsy had given them little more, not even a cause of death. She had no fingerprints, the tides had so damaged the skin of her hands. There were no toxins in her blood. A tip line they set up was bringing in dozens of calls every day. One by one, they painstakingly followed up each. None had yielded answers.
But now, at last, homicide detective Trooper Daniel Herman had something he hoped would narrow the sprawling investigation that had sent investigators scrambling to track down leads from Peru to India to the forests of Brazil:
Pollen.
Sticky and hardy, the pollen that had floated from the flora surrounding Baby Doe in life had clung to her in death, coating her blanket, leggings, and hair. Detectives already suspected that the child had died locally, but where she had lived had remained a mystery.
On that 41st day, the results of the pollen analysis came back. Baby Doe had played among the pines and oaks of New England; she was dusted with traces of privet hedges and cedar-of-Lebanon, which are not native but are often planted in the suburbs. The soot mixed in with the pollen told investigators her surroundings were urban. Somewhere near Boston, they concluded.
A local girl.
A place to start....
Which is where I pretty much ended reading it.
--more--"
Related: Deer Island Girl
I apologize for the relative lack of interest, and if I've forgotten anything, I'm sorry. The Globe's concert of death front and center must be getting to me.
UPDATE: Foul play ruled out in pool death of 4-year-old boy
Further Updates:
Search resumes for girl missing since 1986
Two months later, search continues for Baby Doe’s identity
Officials seek clues after woman’s body found on Plum Island
