Toddler’s body ‘removed’ from grave

POLICE in New York believe the body of a two-year-old child discovered in the Passaic River last Sunday may have been removed from a grave at a Connecticut cemetery.

The body was discovered by a fisherman on the river’s bank and was wrapped in a plastic bag.

Officer Richard Conklin said a coffin at Stamford Cemetery was exhumed after New Jersey medical examiners linked the body to a Connecticut family.

“On Monday, July 6, 2009, Stamford Police investigators with the Passaic county CSI unit and Clifton Police Department exhumed the coffin in Stamford and found it to be empty,” Conklin said.

“Additionally, the casket was damaged.”

“The parents were shocked,” Conklin said. “[They] had no reason to believe the child was not in the ground, and seemed to be quite shocked when we delivered the news.”

Conklin added that police have yet to identify any suspects in the dumping.

They are also looking into the possibility that the child may have been stolen as part of some ritual.

“We’re looking into that,” Conklin said. “At this point the body is being examined but the body was in remarkable condition.”

Connecticut police said grave digging is a problem in their state. Two skulls were recently found on top of a grave at another cemetery.