Bella Bond Laid To Rest In A Donated Dress
Bella Bond, the toddler whose body was found discarded and washed up in a trash bag on Deer Island last June, was finally laid to rest in Winthrop, Massachusetts on Saturday.
Bella was known as “Baby Doe” for months after her body was found because her body remained unidentified. A composite image of the little girl was shown over the Internet millions of times as people speculated about her identity, and finally investigators were able to identify Bella Bond in September through DNA testing and helpful tips, according to WHDH.
Bella Bond’s mother, Rachelle Bond, said she found her daughter already dead after her boyfriend, Michael McCarthy, punched the toddler several times in the stomach. McCarthy said the child was a demon and it was time for her to die, according to Rachelle Bond.
Bond helped McCarthy to discard Bella’s body.
People were shocked to know that Rachelle Bond allegedly placed her deceased daughter in a refrigerator and later helped weigh her down and dumped her into Boston Harbor.
McCarthy was charged with murder, and Rachelle Bond was charged as an accessory after the fact. Both have pleaded not guilty, according to ABC News.
Bella’s biological father, Joseph Amoroso, had never met his daughter, but he decided to have the little girl buried near her paternal great-grandmother. Amoroso showed emotion as he kissed his hand and placed it on the little coffin during the graveside service, according to the Associated Press. He wept as he took a pink rose from the top of the coffin.
Bella was buried in a donated white lace dress, along with a donated quilt and four toys. A stuffed bear and a dog were among the toys in the coffin.
People have wondered how a little girl could have been missing for so long with no one noticing.
McCarthy supposedly told at least one friend that the little girl was taken by the Department of Children and Families because he and Rachelle yelled at Bella and locked her in a closet. Shortly after McCarthy told the friend the lie, the friend asked Rachelle about Bella. Rachelle broke down and admitted that McCarthy killed her daughter. She said she helped get rid of Bella’s body.
A relative of the friend contacted the police to let them know what was said between Bond, McCarthy, and the friend.
The Department of Children and Families had been in contact with Bella as a baby in issues of neglect, but cases were closed after services were provided.
Bella Bond’s mother has a long criminal past. She has several drug and prostitution convictions, as well as restraining orders against her by her mother and stepfather, according to NBC News. Two other children were removed from her care previously and placed with other families after her parental rights were removed.
Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty attended the small, private graveside service and acknowledged Bella Bond’s long journey to her final resting place.
“Today is a sad day, but also a day that we can finally say that she’s at rest.”
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo said Bella’s murder and identification was “a long process for many people in the community. As she rests, she can look down and say that she was loved.”
[Photo by Suffolk County District Attorney via AP, File]
