Bella Nevaeh Amoroso Bond (August 6, 2012 - c. May or June 2015), previously known as "Baby Doe" was a toddler found deceased on the shore of Deer Island in Winthrop, Massachusetts in June 2015. She had been left inside a trash bag. She was identified in September 2015. Since her reconstruction was released, she quickly became internationally famous.
Case[]
NCMEC reconstruction
The child's body was discovered by a woman walking her dog. Recent studies have indicated the child was placed at the location, rather than to have washed ashore. Her cause of death has not been determined, although foul play is suspected. Toxicology tests did not uncover any poisons, drugs, nor alcohol in her system and no visible trauma has been noted on her body.
Since her reconstruction has been released, over fifty-million have viewed, read, and shared the girl's story, quickly making her one of the most popular unidentified cases in the nation.
Identification[]
After the case was subjected to heavy media coverage, social media posts, and featured on multiple billboards, police were unable to obtain suitable leads. An acquaintance of Rachelle Bond eventually tipped authorities with information that the child was Bond’s, and her live-in boyfriend was responsible for her death.
Upon entering Bond’s apartment, the matching top to the polka-dot bottoms found with the remains strongly indicated the lead’s credibility. No one was home at the time, so efforts were made to locate Rachelle Bond and her boyfriend, Michael McCarthy. Bond was found at the residence of Bella’s biological father, and she willingly went to the sheriff’s office to confirm the information leading police to her. She described how McCarthy had killed Bella after she refused to go to bed one night, having witnessed him standing over her body as she investigated the sudden silence from her daughter’s bedroom. Some sources state she witnessed McCarthy punch Bella in the stomach, where others claim the moment of death was not witnessed. Autopsy results revealed no trauma, and asphyxiation is believed to have been how the child died.
McCarthy placed the body into garbage bags and concealed it in the apartment’s refrigerator, later dropping it off a bridge after weighing down a duffel bag, which later ripped and allowed the interior to drift onto Deer Island. McCarthy was charged with murder, Bond was charged as an accessory to the crime for helping to hide her daughter's death.
In 2017, her mother agreed to a plea deal and was released with credit of time served. In late June of the same year, McCarthy was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life with the eligibility of parole set for twenty years.
Gallery[]
Media[]
- The case was detailed in the season 13 premiere of City Confidential in 2023.
Sources[]
- Bella Bond on Wikipedia
- Bella Bond at Find a Grave