Saguaro
11-25-2007, 07:59 PM
CNN) -- Authorities in Galveston, Texas, say they know the identity of a little girl whose body washed ashore in a box last month, and that the girl's mother and another person have been arrested.
Investigators believe the child they dubbed "Baby Grace" is actually 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said in a statement.
DNA analysis is still in progress to confirm that identification.
Police say they have arrested the girl's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, both of Spring, Texas.
They are charged with injury to a child and tampering with physical evidence, police said. Their bonds are set at $350,000 each.
Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo with the Galveston County Sheriff's office confirmed that arrests had been made and said more information would be released at a Monday morning news conference.
On October 29, a fisherman discovered the body in a blue Sterilite plastic container on an uninhabited island in Galveston's West Bay.
Police dubbed the dead girl "Baby Grace," and asked the public for help in identifying her.
A medical examiner said the child's skull was fractured, and a forensic dentist estimated her age at 2 to 3 years.
In composite sketches, the girl is wearing a pink skirt and matching top -- clothing authorities say she was wearing when she was found. The other sketch, a close-up rendering of the child's face, shows a fair-skinned toddler with long blond hair.
"She is more to us than just a case number, more to us than just an unidentified body. She is very much a human being," Tutoilmondo said last month. "She is someone's child, someone's grandchild, someone's cousin, someone's best friend, and to us, that is the most important part about this case."
"We have adopted the name of Baby Grace because, there again, that is part of the emotional part of this case for us," he said, holding a tiny sneaker identical to one of those the child was wearing when she was found.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/25/body.found.arrest/index.html
Investigators believe the child they dubbed "Baby Grace" is actually 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, the Galveston County Sheriff's office said in a statement.
DNA analysis is still in progress to confirm that identification.
Police say they have arrested the girl's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, both of Spring, Texas.
They are charged with injury to a child and tampering with physical evidence, police said. Their bonds are set at $350,000 each.
Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo with the Galveston County Sheriff's office confirmed that arrests had been made and said more information would be released at a Monday morning news conference.
On October 29, a fisherman discovered the body in a blue Sterilite plastic container on an uninhabited island in Galveston's West Bay.
Police dubbed the dead girl "Baby Grace," and asked the public for help in identifying her.
A medical examiner said the child's skull was fractured, and a forensic dentist estimated her age at 2 to 3 years.
In composite sketches, the girl is wearing a pink skirt and matching top -- clothing authorities say she was wearing when she was found. The other sketch, a close-up rendering of the child's face, shows a fair-skinned toddler with long blond hair.
"She is more to us than just a case number, more to us than just an unidentified body. She is very much a human being," Tutoilmondo said last month. "She is someone's child, someone's grandchild, someone's cousin, someone's best friend, and to us, that is the most important part about this case."
"We have adopted the name of Baby Grace because, there again, that is part of the emotional part of this case for us," he said, holding a tiny sneaker identical to one of those the child was wearing when she was found.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/25/body.found.arrest/index.html