Woman Found Pushing Her Dead Boy on Swing

In a tragic and bizarre case, authorities yesterday found a woman pushing her dead son in a park's swing, the AP reports. She may have been at the Maryland park for hours or even overnight, they say. The story began with a call to sheriff's deputies regarding the well-being of the child and mother, according to Charles County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Diane Richardson. "A citizen called and said they'd noticed a woman pushing a child in a swing for an unusually long period of time," she tells NBC Washington. Sheriff's deputies found the 24-year-old woman at about 7am at Wills Memorial Park in La Plata, Md., WUSA9 reports, roughly 30 miles from Washington.

Deputies cut the swing's chain and pulled the boy out, but "it was instantaneously clear the child was dead," says Richardson. No trauma was seen on the boy's body, she adds, but foul play is still a possibility. The woman, who remains unidentified, answered questions before being taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. She also gave authorities a few addresses, including at least two of her own in the area and one where she had stayed with a relative. Now authorities are trying to track her activities over recent days. "It's a very sad and tragic situation for the mother, her family, the officers," says Richardson. "All of us want answers. We're working very hard on that." (More mother stories.)