Original 'Baby Hope' Cops Visited Grave for 22 Years

Now that police have finally IDed "Baby Hope"—the toddler found dead in a cooler in New York 22 years ago—the New York Times revisits the original cops who worked her case. Though some are now retired, they haven't stopped visiting her grave—and say they never gave up hope. In fact, it was the cops who paid for her grave in the first place, with officers pitching in their own money for a tombstone and burial at the time. "This case really captivated the public and the department," says one detective, who has visited the grave multiple times. "Guys were going all the time."

They visited not just to remember the anonymous little girl, reports the Times, but to see who else had been there, and if they'd left any clues. Now that the case has almost been closed, the headstone, which reads, "The identity of this little girl is still unknown. If you have any information please call 1-800-577-TIPS," can finally be replaced. "We’re going to have to redo it," says the original lead detective on the case, who is now 79. Meanwhile, police are now trying to locate the child's father, reports the AP, and sources tell the NY Daily News that he is a prime suspect in the case. Per the sources, Baby Hope's mother has told police that he took the girl and her sister in 1991, and she never saw her again. (More Baby Hope stories.)