People in the community of Dunnville are hoping for a break in a major police investigation.
They want to know the identity of a young girl, whose body was found in the Grand River almost two years ago, and are hoping new details released by the OPP on Monday – including an image of what the girl looked like – will lead to answers.
We don’t know the little girl’s name or where she’s from. We only know her body was found in the Grand River back in May 2022.
And people who live in Dunnville say, while there are more questions than answers right now, they care about this little girl and they want to know what happened.
The OPP released a facial approximation image on Monday in an effort to find her identity.
They say she’s a girl who was between the ages of 10-and-a-half months and three years old when she died.
Based on investigative genetic genealogy, the child’s heritage is half Chinese or neighboring countries along the southern border and she’s also of north African heritage.
Her body was found back in May 2022 by two people fishing on a boat in the Grand River.
Dunnville has a population of 5900 but it’s also a popular destination for cottagers and people making day trips during the warmer months.
The OPP say they do not know where this child was from.
READ MORE: OPP share 3D images of baby girl found dead in Grand River near Dunnville
Haldimand County Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley says residents want to know what happened.
“Who placed her, where did she come from, and we just want to find closure,” Bentley says.
People in the small town say they care about the mystery girl known now as the Grand River Baby.
“Most of the town is still very concerned, it’s very upsetting for this to happen to somebody so young. And we have no knowledge of what’s going on,” one community member said.
There’s a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to identifying the little girl.
At the end of the day, somebody has got to know something, and they need to come forward and just tell it. If anybody can just remember back to May 17 2022, and remember that day, and anything specific to that case, please call the OPP police and let them know,” Bentley says.
If you saw a suspicious car around that area, around the river. They believe that she was dumped close to where she was found, so there has got to be somebody out there who knows something.
Police are asking anyone with information that may help identify her to contact them.