Buried-baby case

Probe of death ongoing

The Daily Inter Lake

Investigation continues into the death of a newborn baby found buried in a Columbia Falls yard.

"I don't think it was intentional," Columbia Falls police Chief Dave Perry said of the baby's death. He thinks the infant died when its teenage mother "tried to muffle the sound of the baby" when someone came to the door of her family home on 10th Avenue West.

Perry said Thursday that he doesn't believe the girl's parents were aware of her pregnancy or the birth. "Even afterwards" the girl did not reveal the secret to them, Perry said.

He said the Flathead County Attorney's Office will decide whether charges are warranted against the baby's teenage mother. She has not been identified.

Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan has said he will not make a determination on the case until after the conclusion of the Joseph Aceto attempted murder trial next week.

Perry earlier said the baby was buried two years ago. The child's mother was "a 16- or 17-year-old kid," he said. The remains were exhumed April 8 when authorities acted on a tip about the burial.

The mother has moved out of state, according to officials who said that she is cooperating in the investigation.