HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. (WCHS) — An 18-year-old mystery of a newborn found in a trash bag along the banks of the Shenandoah River still haunts the town of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., where community members haven't given up hope in finding out who killed the baby boy and why.

The baby was eventually named Christian, which means "of Christ," by members of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, who were so moved by the case that they wanted to help arrange a proper funeral for him.

In Baby Christian's short time on Earth, he had no one. The only arms that may have ever held him were the ones that ultimately threw him to his death.

On March 21, 2004, the newborn, his umbilical cord still attached, was found in a trash bag by a Harpers Ferry park ranger along the river in Jefferson County. The bag had been thrown from the U.S. 340 bridge above. Ranger David Tucker of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park was in the area for a water rescue when he saw the bag. He assumed it was trash but noticed how heavy it was before peering inside and finding the dead baby.

Capt. David Colbert took the initial call and can still hear the disbelief in his voice when listening back on the 911 call.

"I can listen back to the 911 tape and you can hear it in my voice and I'm kind of taken back when I heard that there was a baby in the bag. I asked them twice just for clarification," he recalled.

Colbert, a new dad with a baby daughter at home on the back of his mind, still struggles 18 years later talking about what he saw that day.

"I went over to the ranger and he opened up the bag and outside the bag was a weight. The weight was beside the bag and he opened up the bag and it was bed sheets and a baby in it," he recounted. "You could see the back of the baby. You could tell, it was obviously deceased.

"I think about it a lot. Something like that, I don't think it ever really goes away. Sometimes you can put it in the back of your mind but you can close your eyes and see it like it's right now," he said.

The bag had been weighted down by three, 5-pound gym weights. The 9-pound infant was wrapped in bed sheets.

The trash bag the newborn was found in also contained three gym weights that weighed five pounds each. Investigators concluded they were intended to sink the bag to the bottom of the Shenandoah River but instead, the bag landed on the bank. (Courtesy: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office)

"I believe that they thought they were throwing the child into the river and the weights were meant to hide the evidence and get the baby to sink to the bottom of the river," Lt. Steven Holz, the current lead investigator on the case, said.

Lt. Steven Holz of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the current lead investigator on the Baby Christian murder case. (WCHS)

The medical examiner was able to determine that the newborn had been there at least a month but could have been there even longer, perhaps even as long as three months. It was determined that he was alive when he was put inside the trash bag and the 60-foot fall is what likely killed him.

"The belief is that baby was alive and it died with trauma that is consistent to the impact of being thrown off the bridge," Colbert said.

When asked what one piece of information he wants the most in the case, Colbert said he wants to find out who the mother is and who threw the baby off the bridge.

"That's really what matters. I don't know what was going on with any of these people. Ultimately, I want to know who put that baby in a bag and threw it off the bridge," Colbert said. "That's what I want to know. If I had a crystal ball, that's what I would want to know. Who has it in them to put a live baby in a bag with weights and throw it off a bridge?"

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The Town

In life, the baby didn't even have a name until the town's residents made him theirs.

"He belongs to all of us now and we were the people who could do something for him," Dr. Henry Christie, a local chiropractor and chaplain, said.

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The baby would come to be named Christian and a town would come together to give him a proper funeral.

"After the state did their autopsy, they were going to keep the child and put him in a pauper's grave," Christie, who also officiated the service for Baby Christian in April 3, 2004, said. "Sam and the sheriff and some others petitioned the state to get the child up here and he became a part of Jefferson County."

Sgt. Sam Harmon with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office ultimately named the boy and helped plan the funeral.

Retired Ofc. Chris Jackson, of the Washington, D.C. police, plays the bagpipes followed by Dr. Henry Christie as Jeffferson County Sheriff's deputies Cpl. Dave Colbert and Jeremy Holier carry Baby Christian into Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town on April 3, 2004. (AP Photo)

The sheriff's office, led at the time by Sheriff Ed Boober, bought the clothes in which Baby Christian would be buried. Previous news articles said Harmon chose a pale blue shirt with a puppy on the front and matching pants with white socks.

"I was going to dig into a bag of my son's old stuff," Harmon told The Washington Post at the time. "But . . . I didn't want him going out of this world in a hand-me-down."

The 24-inch coffin was donated by the nearby Eackles-Spencer Funeral Home.

"I give more of these away than I sell," owner Robert Spencer told the newspaper at the time.

Spencer also ordered a guest book and programs and arranged for the service to be held at Harpers Ferry Middle School.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Cpl. Dave Colbert, lead investigator in the Baby Christian death at the time, speaks to mourners at the funeral service in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., Saturday morning April 3, 2004. The infant was tossed over the U.S. 340 bridge and discovered by authorities March 21. The baby, was named Christian, which means "of Christ," by members of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, who were so moved by the case that they wanted to name the boy and arrange a proper burial for him. (AP Photo/The Journal, Ron Agnir)

Tom Dailey's Jefferson County Monument Sales donated a headstone. It sits at Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town and reads, "In Memory Of Baby Christian, Given To Jefferson County, March 21, 2004." At first, they weren't sure what to put on it but Christie said Harmon grabbed a note and paper and wrote it out. "Mr. Dailey said, 'that's perfect' and of course, that's what's been on there for 18 years," Christie explained.

A donated headstone sits on a donated plot at Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town, W.Va. where Baby Christian is buried. (WCHS)

More than 100 people packed into the school to say goodbye to the baby they never knew.Before the coffin was closed, a pacifier, gifted from a toddler, was tucked into Baby Christian's hand.

"This child was thrown away one time. We weren't going to let it happen again," Christie said.

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The Investigation

Questions swirled around town on who Baby Christian's parents could be. Tips poured into the sheriff's office. Colbert said every tip and lead was exhausted and nearly every investigator who has come through the investigative office has looked at the case in some manner over the years.

"Somebody had this baby. Somebody was pregnant. We were just hoping that somebody would have some information that would lead us into the direction of someone who had been pregnant and now, obviously, they're not pregnant and they don't have a baby," Colbert said.

The investigation is still active, Colbert emphasized, and has the full support of Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey and Sheriff Tom Hansen.

"It's never stopped," he said. "It has never stopped."

Colbert said DNA samples were taken from the baby, along with fingerprints from the bag and other items in it. A 2014 article from Herald-Mail Media noted that additional forensic testing had been authorized to try and solve the case.

Capt. David Colbert led the investigation into the death of Baby Christian when the case was in its beginning stages. He also took the initial call after the baby's body was discovered by a Harpers Ferry park ranger in 2004. (WCHS)

A suspect had previously been identified but a DNA sample did not match, Colbert said at the time. According to a June 2004 Associated Press article, Sheriff Ed Boober said police started focusing on a suspect shortly after the baby's body was found.

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"I believe the case will be solved. What I have found is it's been 18 years and in those 18 years I've seen a dramatic increase in the ability to solve cases using modern technology and DNA methods that weren't available 18 years ago," he told Eyewitness News.

The Memorial

"If you came here today looking for answers, definitive answers, I apologize because I do not have any. Why God gave baby Christian a few short breaths on this earth is a great mystery and that mystery has continued for these 18 years," Christie told a still grieving group of community members gathered to mourn the baby they never knew.

It would have been his 18th birthday.

A group gathered at Edge Hill Cemetery on April 2, 2022 to remember Baby Christian on what would have been his 18th birthday. (WCHS)

Ann Khiel Fern helped arrange the service at the gravesite. She said Baby Christian's story has become deeply personal for her because she lives so close to the cemetery.

"I came to visit his grave every day and I thought, 'My Lord, he's going to be 18-years-old,'" she said. "He's our baby. Every single person that knows about him, he's our child. We love him and we want justice served."

When she walks by, Fern said, she will tell him that he is not forgotten and there are people determined to find out what happened to him.

Ann Fern and Dr. Henry Christie speaking at memorial service for Baby Christian on April 2, 2022. (WCHS)

"I have 13 grandchildren and to think of someone doing that to one of them, it just tears my heart apart," she said.

She knows the passage of time isn't on their side.

"People move on. A tragedy happens, a murder happens, people move on with their own lives and I don't want him to be forgotten," Fern said.

But she also knows it's just a matter of time before the secret someone is carrying finally comes to light.

"This child was thrown away one time. We weren't going to let it happen again," Christie said. "The child only had a few short breaths on this earth. We don't know how many but it wasn't many. He was able to bring a community together."

If you have any information about the case, please contact the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at 304-728-3205.

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On Thursday on Eyewitness News, reporter Anna Saunders will be taking a close look at West Virginia's Safe Haven Law. The law allows a baby within 30 days of its birth to be surrendered to a hospital, health care facility or 24/7 staffed fire department without facing criminal charges as long as there are no signs of abuse.

Some believe the laws, which exist in some form in all 50 states, are poorly publicized and that's why they aren't utilized more.

“I can’t imagine that anyone knowing that these safe haven laws existed would take such a drastic course of action. If they knew about the safe haven laws, you would walk into the hospital, hand the baby and walk out," Christie said.