‘Baby Doe’ Toddler: Boston Police Talk Missing Baby Kate’s DNA Test, Release New Photo

When it comes to the case of the so-called “Baby Doe” toddler, Boston police are stumped. They are pursuing multiple leads, including the possibility that a missing girl nicknamed baby Kate might be Baby Doe’s identity. The Boston cops have also released a new Baby Doe photo in hopes that it might help identify the dead child.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, the Baby Doe photo has reached over 45 million people on social media and there have been many tips. The Boston Police Department have also received many tips asking them to consider whether “baby doe” is missing West Virginia girl Aliayah Lunsford.

In Michigan, Baby Kate, also known as Katherine Phillips, disappeared on June 29, 2011. Baby Kate’s father, Sean Phillips, has been convicted and jailed on falsely imprisoning his daughter, but she’s never been found and it is considered a cold case. Many on social media have compared the computer-generated image of Baby Doe to Baby Kate and they thought the eyes might be a match. In addition, Phillips once claimed that he gave his daughter over to someone else in an illegal adoption, although he also wrote a letter describing how he killed his daughter while angry at his wife.

Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole has now confirmed that Baby Doe’s DNA test confirms the Boston case is not related to Baby Kate.

“Although our hearts break for the toddler in Massachusetts, investigators never felt (and there is no evidence to suggest) the two cases were related,” Cole said in a statement, according to M Live. “It has been confirmed through the Michigan State Police Crime Lab the DNA from Baby Kate and the DNA of the recovered child is not a match.”

Boston police say Baby Doe was found on June 25, 2015 in a trash bag when she washed ashore only to be discovered by a person walking their dog at Deer Island. Officials believe the dead girl had been in the water for a very short time period, and they state there were no visible signs of trauma. She was wrapped up in a zebra-striped fleece blanket, which may have been special to the child.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released a computer-generated image shortly after the child was found, but forensic artist Christi Andrews says it was a “rush request” which was finished in four hours. Regardless, she says the image is special to her.

“I feel a connection to each case,” she said, according to KFOR. “Creating a reconstruction from the deceased requires intense study of the facial features. We connect to each other as people through our face, and especially our eyes. I usually start with those first. And once I feel I’ve achieved the proportions and details of the eyes, the image begins to come to life for me.”

The new Baby Doe photo is only tweaked slightly. The only major change is the addition of pierced ears.

If you know anything about the Baby Doe toddler, Boston authorities are asking the public to report any information to the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit at 617-727-8817 or Winthrop Police at 617-539-5806.

[Image via National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]