CABELL COUNTY, West Virginia — An investigation has begun after deputies discovered an infant’s corpse and a broken casket in a cemetery.
The Cabell County Sheriff’s Office in West Virginia received a call about the incident at Baylous Cemetery on Hickory Ridge Road in the Salt Rock area, just after 7 p.m. on Thursday. A family visiting a loved one’s grave made the unsettling find, according to Sheriff Doug Adams.
In the 9-1-1 call, the husband and wife said that the baby was a boy, and there were infant clothes; and that the casket had been thrown over a hill.
Sheriff Adams expressed his belief that it takes a disturbed person to desecrate a grave and tamper with a corpse, noting that the child is currently being referred to as Baby Doe. Investigators think the body belongs to a baby boy who was a few months old when buried, though they remain unsure of the infant’s original burial site. Despite a thorough search of Baylous Cemetery that night and the following day, deputies found no evidence of disturbed graves there, leading them to question whether the child was originally buried at that location or brought from elsewhere, as Sheriff Adams explained.
Deputies confirmed they couldn’t identify any tampered graves at the cemetery. Sheriff Adams suggested this appears to be an isolated case. He encouraged anyone with loved ones of a similar age buried in nearby cemeteries to contact authorities if they suspect any disturbance, assuring that deputies would investigate and coordinate with cemetery caretakers to ensure nothing has been overlooked. The infant’s remains have been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Charleston for further examination, Sheriff Adams added.