Bella Neveah Amoroso Bond (August 6, 2012 – May or June 2015), previously known as the Deer Island Jane Doe and "Baby Doe", was an American child whose body was found in a plastic bag on the shore of Deer Island in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 25, 2015.
Authorities pursued numerous leads of investigation into discovering the child's identity until their efforts proved successful in September 2015. This publicity generated many tips with possible leads, one of which led to the girl's identity. Bella Bond was identified on September 18, 2015.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children facially reconstructed the child's face to provide the public with an estimation of the victim's appearance during life. They aimed to generate tips to a potential identity and to locate the individual or individuals responsible for the disposal of her body. After the reconstruction was released and news coverage began nationwide, a large amount of public attention emerged; an estimated 56 million people viewed reports on the case. Half of these occurred within the first week after the body was found.
Bond's mother, Rachelle Bond, and her boyfriend, Michael McCarthy, were arrested, and authorities confirmed that Bella had been murdered, despite the fact that an initial autopsy performed on the body did not uncover the exact cause of death.
Rachelle Bond was charged with being an "accessory after the fact" in regards to her daughter's murder; she later pleaded guilty as the result of a plea deal. McCarthy was charged with murder in the case and was later convicted of murder in the second degree. On June 28, 2017, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with future parole.
Discovery The body of Bella Bond was found inside a plastic garbage bag on the shoreline of Deer Island near Boston, Massachusetts. A woman walking her dog made the discovery of Bond's remains on the afternoon of June 25, 2015, when the dog stopped at the plastic bag. After the body was found, the public placed flowers near the scene. She wore only a pair of white leggings designed with a black polka-dot pattern. A zebra-print blanket was also inside the bag. Initially, police were unsure if additional bodies would be at the scene, so they attempted unsuccessfully to use cadaver dogs to locate any other possible remains.
Authorities originally estimated that the girl had died within days of her discovery. Later developments in the case have suggested that Bella's body had been "hidden in a fridge" for as long as one month before it was deposited on Deer Island. Despite the fact that she appeared to have been deceased only a short time, she had already begun to decompose and become bloated, which made it impossible to identify her visually. Decomposition had also made it impossible to collect fingerprints, due to exposure to the water. Investigators were able to conclude that she was a young child, but were initially unsure of her race and ethnicity.
Just how the remains had settled at the location was unknown; the body might either have been placed at the beach or may have drifted in the water from another location, some presuming from as far away as Canada. The United States Coast Guard entered the investigation and analyzed the currents of the water in the area to estimate where the bag containing the remains could have originated. Dive teams were also used around the time the body was discovered. As of mid-July and August, authorities believed the victim had been placed at the scene, rather than washing onto Deer Island from another location, because the body was not in an advanced enough stage of decomposition. The beach is near a wastewater treatment plant. One of the investigators thought a possibility existed that the disposal had been performed by an employee of the nearby water-treatment plant. Since the area has been regarded as a "busy" area for both workers and the public, the person who placed the bag at the scene possibly did so at night, to avoid being seen.
Examination An autopsy was conducted on July 3, but did not conclude what had caused the girl's death. While authorities suspected foul play as a factor in the case, no signs of obvious injury had been found on the remains. Tests were later conducted to find any toxins, drugs, or alcohol present in the body as a possible explanation for the death. Examiners were unable to find any trace of cleaners such as bleach in the remains, but continued with more testing in hopes of finding another toxin as a possible cause of death. After the identification of the victim, a conclusive cause of death had yet to be announced, despite all forms of "natural death [having] been excluded". Suffocation had not been ruled out as the cause.
The clothing found on the toddler, believed to be "size 4T" was determined to have been manufactured by the Circo company and was likely sold at a Target store. The blanket was possibly made by the Cannon Mills company and sold at K-Mart. A hair band made from elastic material was also found.
The child was eventually determined to be between the ages of three and five and appeared to be white, with possible Hispanic ancestry. Her hair was described as being "brown, wavy and fourteen inches in length". Presumably, the child's hair was left untrimmed for about two years, judging by its length. She was also estimated to be between and tall and weighed around . No distinct birthmarks or scars were on the body. The girl was later discovered to have had pierced ears, so the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an updated image of the child wearing earrings. The girl appeared to have been "well-cared for" during her life; no signs of malnutrition or abuse were noted, and investigators stated the clothing also reinforced the theory.
Investigation The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children digitally reconstructed the face of the child after preceding attempts to identify the body failed. The reconstruction was created in four hours using Adobe Photoshop with the influence of mortuary and "stock" photographs to give an estimation of the child's appearance while alive. The reconstruction, created by forensic artist Christi Andrews, was released on July2, 2015due to its realistic composition, many viewers mistook it for an actual photograph. The organization also digitally enhanced images of the leggings and the blanket found with the remains and created a poster featuring them on their website. Flyers containing images of the Jane Doe and her belongings were eventually dispersed in hopes of obtaining more information. After the child's identification, some individuals who were familiar with the Bonds claimed they did not see a resemblance between the composite and Bella.
The child was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System on July 4, 2015, including details of the discovery of the subject and physical estimations. Many missing persons were excluded as possible identities; authorities checked Shoshana Black, Paula Ramerez-Figuroa, Ofir Ben–Haim, Cassidy Gibbs, and Ayla Reynolds. Other leads were pursued involving children who were reported missing, some of whom were foreign to the United States. Some of the potential matches were later located alive. The disappearance case of Sarah Hoggle had been analyzed to have a possible link to the case, yet investigators stated it was "unlikely" to have been related to this case. In all, over 200 missing people were ruled out from the case.
A press conference displaying the reconstruction and the enhanced images of the clothing and blanket was later held at the location where the body was found. It was televised to ask the public for assistance identifying the victim and to request of those who may have known her, especially her parents, to identify the girl. During the press conference, officials urged viewers to be aware of children who may have disappeared or gone unaccounted for in the days leading up to the celebration of Independence Day. Despite their hopes, no one came forward to claim responsibility for the crime or to confirm who the victim was. Hundreds of tips were submitted over the phone and online and were investigated.
When searching persons databases produced few cases matching her profile, authorities began to believe that the child may never have been reported missing. They explored the possibility that the family of the child could be unaware of her death. Another explanation for why no matches were achieved was that she could have belonged to an undocumented family. Police were focused on investigating in the local community, yet they believed the girl possibly was not from the area and continued to search through various cases of missing children.
Among other theories about the case, early speculation was that the girl could have been murdered by a member of her family. A criminologist stated that her having been "murdered by a stranger" did not seem likely, according to statistics of similar cases. The fact that no tips from relatives with information about the child had been reported supported the idea that family members were involved with the disposal of the body, and possibly with her death. Investigators feared for other children who may have been in the care of those who disposed of the body, as they could be in danger. A different theory held that the child's family members might also be deceased, having faced a similar demise.
Forensic testing Forensics teams analyzed the DNA of Deer Island Jane to exclude some missing persons and in hopes of matching it to possible relatives of the girl whose DNA was on record. It was obtained through samples of hair and a tooth. The DNA did not match the profiles stored in databases of known missing persons. Officials stated that they also sent samples to the University of North Texas to create a more specific profile, a time-consuming process. Mitochondrial DNA from the bones of the child was later developed to compare to possible relatives.
Besides DNA testing, authorities conducted efforts into forensic palynology as well as isotope examination of water found at the scene. Results of the testing indicated that the child had spent time in the local, urban area, most likely in Boston, as traces of both pine and soot were found throughout the tests. Eventually, she was also determined to have possibly spent time in any of the six New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) and possibly others. The hair and enamel tests also indicated she could have "moved across the country."
Public interaction Because the reconstruction and the story had been so widely publicized, an unexpectedly large amount of public interest in the case developed internationally. Many people have since shared and viewed reports detailing the case on social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook. Several individuals offered to pay for the child's funeral and burial if she could not be identified. One funeral home stated that it would donate the means to bury the child under a headstone, so she would not be buried in a pauper's grave. Local businesses in the area began placing posters of the child in their buildings, hoping to create awareness for the case and to generate potential leads. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority reported plans to donate a bench in memory of the girl. The digital reconstruction had been viewed an estimated 50 million times by the public, which officials have stated was significantly efficient in assisting with the case.