Authorities plan to exhume child victim in 26-year-old murder case

By Ann Rubin

KSDK -- Authorities plan to exhume the victim in a 26-year-old murder case; not because they expect new evidence, but because they think it is simply too cruel for an abandoned child to remain in an abandoned cemetery.

When St. Louis detectives visited the gravesite a few weeks ago, they realized just how bad it was. Thanks to one charity and lots of volunteers, the little girl will have a proper burial in just a few weeks.

The unidentified girl's body was discovered in a vacant building on Clemens in 1983. Authorities guessed the child was no younger than eight, no older than 11. She had been sexually assaulted, strangled and decapitated. Authorities hoped someone would recognize her clothes. No one did.

Retired Police Sgt. Joe Burgoon was on the case then and has not forgotten it now.

"We still second guess ourselves," Burgoon said. "What did we miss if we missed anything?"

At the time, detectives helped bury the girl at the Washington Park Cemetery. Twenty-six years later, it's fallen into disrepair. Graves are overgrown and headstones have been toppled.

"You know it's kinda sad when you go back there and look and there's a little innocent girl back there by herself," Burgoon said. "Nobody around her and it kinda gets to you."

And so the former and current detectives have decided to exhume her and move her to a better place.

"This one, she definitely at least deserves that if nothing else," said Detective Tom Carroll.

The plan is to bring her to Calvary Cemetery, to the Garden of Innocents. It is a place specifically for children who have no one else. It was the brainchild of Rebeca Navarro-McKelvey.

"This is why this program exists," Navarro-McKelvey said. "This child is truly abandoned and so this is a wonderful opportunity for us to wrap our arms around this child which the whole city has embraced."

The Garden of Innocents charity will pay for a casket, music and flowers. There will even be a funeral service. They are also in the process of giving the little girl a name.

"In no way do I want to imply that we know her identity because we do not, this is just...we call it our angel name," Navarro-McKelvey said.

Detectives on the case say they have not given up hope of finding out who she really is and who killed her. But until then, they'll have a proper place to pay their respects.

"It's kinda cool that a lot of people still do care," said Carroll.

"She deserves a better place, be with others. Other innocents," Burgoon said.

A date for the reburial has not been set, but Garden of Innocents is looking for anyone who'd like to help, that includes musicians who'd like to play at the service, or people who might want to help print the programs. The public will be welcome to attend.

For more information call 800-880-6941 or visit http://www.gardenofinnocents.org/.