A break in the 22-year-old case of Baby Hope was made recently when New York police identified the baby’s mother. Now, they are actively searching for her father.
On Tuesday, police said that the summer push for new information in the case did indeed lead to a tip from a woman who lead them to Baby Hope’s older sister. The tipster had overheard the sister talking about the case in a laundromat. That information lead them on a trail to the unidentified child’s mother and using scientific evidence, they proved that she was the mother.
Now, sources for The New York Daily News said that police are looking for Baby Hope’s father as the prime suspect. Her mother never saw Hope after her father took her and the older sister after the couple split. Hope was later discovered on July 23, 1991 off the Henry Hudson Parkway in a cooler. She was naked, bound and sexually abused.
When police spoke with the mother, she said she was afraid of Hope’s father, which is why she never reported her daughter missing.
According to NY1, police have yet to release Baby Hope’s identity. Baby Hope’s body was exhumed two years ago and at that time, police acquired the DNA sample used to match her to her mother. She is believed to have been 3 to 5-years-old at the time of her death.