Camden Pierce Hughes will forever live in the hearts of America as the little boy with the tousled light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His computer generated picture was broadcast over the internet and airways over the weekend after a resident of South Berwick Maine found him dead around five in the evening.
He had been wrapped inside a blanket and placed under a tree on Dennett Road. The state Police in Maine issued a computer generated photograph of the unidentified little boy hoping someone would recognize him. Also released was a picture of a navy blue Toyota Tacoma pickup that was seen over the weekend in South Berwick Maine. South Berwick Maine is a small close knit community of around 7,000.
Dead Boy in Maine Not Reported Missing
Authorities, according to the original story on Cnn.com, called the little boy’s death “suspicious”. Also suspicious was that no one seemed to notice he was missing and there were no reports of a missing child that matched the boy’s description. One tip that may have helped investigators determine the little boy’s identity came from a man living in Irving Texas according to KSDK.com, “Christian von Atzigen of Irving said he called Maine state police Wednesday after he recognized the boy as Camden Pierce Hughes. The boy is the son of Julianne McCrery, a woman with whom he and his wife have been friends for 15 years”.
Then, on Wednesday May 18, 2011 came the big break when the Massachusetts State Police were alerted through a tip that a navy blue Tacoma pickup truck matching the description of one seen in the rural South Berwick Maine was at a Chelmsford Massachusetts rest stop. At the rest stop a woman was taken into custody. News sources began reporting the truck was registered to 42 year old Julianne McCrery from Texas.
Julianne McCrery was taken into custody and is believed to be the mother of the little boy found wrapped in a blanket and placed under a tree in South Berwick Maine on Saturday. Initial news reports are stating mom may have panicked after her son Camden died from an overdose of a cold or allergy medication, although the cause and manner of death may not become clear until the results of the autopsy come back in a few weeks. At one point during police questioning McCrery was taken to local Massachusetts hospital by ambulance although the police have not elaborated as to why.
What remains so unusual in the case of Camden Pierce Hughes is no one ever reported him missing. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, rarely does a child disappear without someone reporting them missing, and they cite only two documented cases where a child was found dead, never reported missing. In both cases the primary caregiver later confessed or was arrested in the deaths. Apparently Julianne McCrery has a rather lengthy legal record in Texas involving felony convictions for prostitution and possession/distributing of a controlled substance, including time served in prison and probation according to AJC.com.
Multidisciplinary Agencies Work Together
This story is a prime example of how multiple agencies from several states can work together on local, state, and federal levels to form a team of diversified law enforcement and forensic specialists that help identify and solve a case where there are no eye witnesses and few initial leads. Advancements in technology allowed for a computer generated picture of a little blonde haired and blue eyed boy who was found wrapped in a blanket and placed under a tree in a rural area to be published within hours after he is found. His picture traveled to the news networks and was rapidly transmitted by caring American’s to a variety of social networking sites which may has given one little boy back his identify within days of his death.
A few years ago a forensic artist would have had to spend hours on drawing a composite sketch. More time would be taken to fax the information to various news sources which would air his story in the next news broadcast. How time now literally flies thanks to all the advancements in technology. Justice is being served for a little boy found dead in South Berwick Maine but now loved by millions of Americans who looked out for the truck and searched missing children records, hoping to help identify Camden Pierce Hughes. May he fly safely with the angels.
Erika Lyn Smith - Erika Lyn Smith - is a Psych RN, who has completed the UMSL Medicolegal Death Investigator Training Course, and is finishing a BS in ...
