Among Bodies Discarded on a Beach, One That Doesn’t Fit

((Excerpt))

One clue suggesting that the toddler’s parent or guardian was involved is the blanket. Cheryl Meyer, a psychology professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a co-author of “When Mothers Kill: Interviews From Prison,” said wrapping the toddler in a blanket suggested an emotional connection between the child and the person disposing of the body. The gesture itself was something a mother might do.

Often, mothers who kill their children dispose of the body close by, like in their backyard or even in their house, unlike in many cases involving fathers or stepfathers, who often discard the body far from home, Professor Meyer said. She recalled an Ohio case where a child died of a fever because the mother and stepfather did not take the child to a hospital. The mother agreed not to report the death, but wanted the body nearby, so they hid it in a crawlspace of the house.

TheNewYorkTimes.com