CAMDEN PIERCE HUGHES -6 yo (2011) - South Berwick ME

Young boy's body turns up on remote Maine road


SOUTH BERWICK, MAINE (AP) - State police in Maine are appealing for the public's help as investigators try to identify the body of a boy found along a remote road.

The body was found by a resident in South Berwick at about 5 p.m. Saturday. Police are terming the death suspicious. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Augusta.

Steve McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety says the boy is believed to be between 4 and 6 years old with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a gray camouflage hooded sweat shirt, khaki pants and black sneakers.

The body was found in a wooded area outside South Berwick, about 15 miles north of Portsmouth, N.H.

Maine and New Hampshire police have had no missing-person report filed for a young boy.

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=14647664

DEVELOPING: Body of boy aged 4-6 found in South Berwick - death ruled suspicious
State Police say the body of a boy as young as 4-years-old was discovered Saturday in South Berwick and investigators are calling the death suspicious.

Police say the body was found on Dennett Road Saturday afternoon. Dennett Road is off Route 4.

Investigators say a local resident found the body of the boy - believed to be between 4 and 6-years-old. The boy had dirty blond hair, blue eyes and was wearing a gray, colored-camouflage, Faded Glory-brand hooded sweatshirt, along with tan-colored khaki pants and "Lightning McQueen" black sneakers, according to State Police.

Police said early Sunday that they had no reports of any missing children in either New Hampshire or Maine.

Anyone who thinks they have information is urged to call 911 or State Police in Gray at 657-3030.

http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_7840.shtml?wap=0&

Police release computer-generated image of boy whose body was found in South Berwick


State Police released a computer-generated image Sunday
of the young boy whose body was found in South Berwick Saturday
afternoon as they try to find people who may have seen or know of the child.

A local resident discovered the body around 5 p.m. on Dennett Road - a dirt road off Route 4.

Police say they're also looking for a navy blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck
that may possibly related to the case. It's an extended cab and has
white license plates, though the state and number are not known, according to police.

State Police Spokesman Steve McCausland said
Sunday that the boy was believed to be between 4 and 5 years old. The
boy was previously believed to be between 4 and 6 years old, according to McCausland.

The boy's death has been labeled as suspicious.

McCausland says there are no reports of any missing children in New Hampshire or
Maine. State Police say they've notified police around the country about
the case and that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has been notified.
See video and composite at link;
http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_7843.shtml

Dead boy's identity still unknown

Monday, May 16, 2011

Maine State Police have released this photo computer generated by the State Police Computer Crimes Unit of the young boy who was found in the woods off Dennett Road in South Berwick, Maine, Saturday evening

Maine police investigate 100 leads in boy's death Article: Maine police investigate 100 leads in boy's death Article: Police to view videos for clues to boy's ID

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — State police have still not determined the name
of a young boy found dead Saturday on a dirt road, a detail of the
investigation that Lt. Brian McDonough called "frustrating" multiple times Monday.

The release of a computer-generated photo of the
boy, contact with all police departments and school districts in Maine
and New Hampshire, multiple press conferences, and work with missing
children agencies all didn't bear fruit Monday, and Lt. Brian McDonough
said his department will continue to actively pursue every lead and wait
for the phone call identifying the child.

"I think this is extremely unusual," said McDonough during a press conference Monday
about the fact that the parents of the boy hadn't called police and no
one has called to positively identify him. "It really delays the
investigation significantly. It's a little bit frustrating in (terms of)
the delay, but I'm confident we're doing the everything right."

State police held two press conferences about the boy on Monday at
Libby-Scott Paving off Route 4, a short distance from the wooded area
off Dennett Road where the boy's body was found at about 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, in order to raise public awareness about the boy.

Police had "upwards of 100" leads about the body as of Monday afternoon, according to McDonough, including a once "promising" one about a missing child matching the deceased boy's description.

Details about that lead weren't released, although McDonough said police eliminated
the lead after that missing boy was located during a welfare check in an undisclosed community.
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110516/GJNEWS_01/305189999

May 16

Police seek clues to identity of dead boy

The body was found in South Berwick, but his identity is unknown.

By Dennis Hoey staff writer

The discovery of a young boy's body along a remote road in South Berwick on Saturday night is being considered suspicious by Maine State Police.


This computer-generated image shows
what the boy likely looked like and how he was dressed. Police also are
looking for a navy blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with an extended cab,
full cap over the bed and white license plate. Anyone with information
can contact state police at 657-3030 or 911 on a cellphone.

Courtesy Maine State Police


Related headlines

• Police following nearly 100 leads
  in boy's death
  

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said the fully clothed body was found by a local resident.

McCausland said the death is especially disturbing because police in Maine and New Hampshire have received no reports of a missing boy who fits the description. South Berwick is located in York County, on the border with New Hampshire.

The state Medical Examiner's Office in Augusta performed an autopsy Sunday afternoon. The cause of death has not been released. Police agencies throughout the country have been notified, as has the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, McCausland said.

"Our main priority today is to identify this boy," McCausland said Sunday afternoon.

Speaking again Sunday night, McCausland said state police have received a few calls, but are hoping for more.

"We've dealt with a lack of news from all the broadcast (television) stations for most of Sunday," he said, "so word wasn't getting out mostly until (Sunday) evening."

According to police, the boy's body was discovered about 5 p.m. Saturday beside Dennett Road.

McCausland said part of Dennett Road is paved, while another, more remote section where the body was found is gravel.

The State Computer Crimes Unit generated a likeness of the boy Sunday. He is 3-foot-8 and weighs 45 pounds. He still has his baby
teeth, which means he was likely between 4 and 6 years old, McCausland said.

The boy has dark blond hair and blue eyes.

He was wearing a gray camouflage hooded sweat shirt -- the brand name is Faded Glory -- tan khaki pants, and "Lightning McQueen" black sneakers.

McCausland said the boy's death is considered suspicious simply because of his age and the fact that he has not been reported missing by an adult.

State police detectives have set up a command post in a parking lot along Route 4 in South Berwick.

Police also said they are looking for a navy blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck that may be related to the case. It has an extended cab with a full cap cover over the bed. The truck has a white license plate, but the state is unknown.

"That was seen in the area," McCausland said. "We obviously need to track that down to find out whether it is connected or not connected. We've had some calls as a result of our plea -- and I didn't ask whether it concerned the identity of the boy or the identity of the truck's owner -- but we did get some calls. That's a good sign, and we are looking for more."

Anyone with information on the boy's identity or the pickup truck is asked to call Maine State Police at 657-3030 or 911 on a cellphone.


http://www.pressherald.com/news/police-seek-clues-to-dead-boy_2011-05-16.html

Why hasn't this boy's mother reported him missing? The only acceptable excuse for that is if she is also dead.

I hope this isn't ANOTHER case of a POS mother covering up for a POS man. I fear it is.

JMO.

The only acceptable excuse for that is if she is also dead.

---or, if she committed the murder, but then that would also be inexcusable...

TomTerrific0420 wrote:

The only acceptable excuse for that is if she is also dead.

---or, if she committed the murder, but then that would also be inexcusable...

Wonder what nearby states have a white tag. Not much to go on so far.

Maine police find boy's body, ask about Kyron Horman


by Associated Press & kgw.com staff

Posted on May 17, 2011

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine - A boy’s body was found wrapped in a blanket off a remote road in Maine last Saturday and those investigators have contacted Multnomah County detectives for more information about Kyron Horman’s disappearance.

As first reported on OregonLive, state police in Maine requested photos, flyers and other information about Kyron, according to Lt. Mary Lindstrand, with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.

Lindstrand told KGW Tuesday that the body was not ruled out as being Kyron but detectives had just sent the information and identifying a body is not a quick process. She added that local detectives have not been contacted again from Maine Police since the information was sent.

Maine police also began circulating a computer-generated photo of the unidentified boy and a detailed press release on Facebook.

Kyron's father, Kaine recently told KGW in a two-hour exclusive interview that he continues to hope for a break in the case that will solve the mystery of his young son's disappearance.

Latest: Kyron's father, Kaine talks to KGW
The Maine body was found by a resident in the small town of South Berwick early Saturday evening. Police described the cause of death as “suspicious” but said there were no missing child reports that matched the age of the dead boy in Maine or neighboring New Hampshire.

The boy appeared to be 4 to 6 years old, 3’8” tall, with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a Faded Glory gray camouflage hooded sweatshirt, a blue T-shirt, tan pants, and Lightning McQueen sneakers.

Kyron has been missing since June 4th, 2010, when he vanished at the age of 7 after participating in a science fair at Skyline Elementary School.

Through winter and early spring, search crews scoured an area near Skyline Boulevard in Northwest Portland. They found nothing. They also unsuccessfully searched areas on Sauvie Island.

Kyron’s stepmother, Terri Moulton-Horman has been named as a “person of interest” in the case, but there are no suspects.


http://www.nwcn.com/news/122038809.html

ALFRED, Maine — Police said Tuesday they believe someone from the
military, particularly the Navy, may be involved in the case of a young
boy found dead alongside a dirt road in South Berwick on Saturday.

A navy blue Toyota Tacoma pickup with an extended cab and a full cap over
the bed, seen in the immediate vicinity of the boy’s body hours before
he was discovered, had a U.S. Navy insignia on or near its license
plate, Lt. Brian McDonough said.

That, combined with the fact that apparently no one has reported this boy missing for four days,
leads investigators to think someone from the military is involved
because the transient nature of a military family means the boy could be
gone without raising red flags.

“We’re really starting to wonder if the individual related to this truck is a member of the military,”
McDonough said during a news conference at the state police barracks
here.

The witness, whom McDonough declined to identify, told
police she saw a woman alone in the truck around 7:30 in the morning on a
dirt portion of Dennett Road, a rural street in South Berwick. That
same witness also discovered the boy’s body around 5 p.m. that day after
going to look at the area where the truck had been.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is now assisting the investigation to
flesh out the military angle, McDonough said. New Hampshire state police
is also helping, McDonough said.

The closest Navy installation to South Berwick is the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. A
spokesman from the shipyard referred questions to Maine state police.

Police have received more than 200 leads so far, from as far away as
California, and 14 detectives are chasing those down, though none have
been able to identify the boy or the truck yet, McDonough said. Officers
have also collected about a dozen surveillance videos from business in
South Berwick, Eliot and Dover, N.H., across the border.

All currently-reported missing children around the country “have all but been eliminated” as possibilities, McDonough said.

With traditional investigative methods falling short, police are considering extraordinary measures, McDonough said.

Officials plan use DNA to try and identify the boy, but they need samples to
match his against. The most voluminous databases are those made for
criminal defendants, such as the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, known
as CODIS.

McDonough raised the prospect of using a type of DNA
matching that would find relatives of the boy within that database.
Similar matching has been done before, but has raised serious legal
questions along the way because those databases are not made for that
purpose.

McDonough said police are consulting with lawyers to determine whether they could do such family DNA matching in this case.

“I’d be surprised if we’re allowed to do it,” he said, adding, “If we could do it, I’d love to be able to do it.”

Police continued to refer to the boy’s death as “suspicious” on Tuesday and would not say if it was murder or how he died.

Police described the boy as 3-foot-8, weighing 45 pounds. Police said the boy
was wearing a “Faded Glory” brand gray camouflage hooded sweatshirt,
tan-colored khaki pants and a navy blue T-shirt with the word “Aviator”
and a small plane emblazoned on front. He also had on “Lightning
McQueen” black sneakers, from the movie Cars.

He has blonde hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information about the boy is asked to call Maine state police at (207) 657-3030.
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110518/NEWS03/705189979

Breaking News: Person of interest in custody in connection with Berwick boy's body
Breaking News: Massachusetts State Police are questioning a person in connection with
the boy’s body that was found on the side of a road in South Berwick, Maine. Massachusetts State
Police are expected to make a statement regarding a person of interest,
sometime Wednesday afternoon. The person is currently in Massachusetts State Police custody and investigators say is being held in connection with "an on-going investigation in Maine." Breaking News: Person of interest in custody in connection with Berwick boy's body

Person of Interest Questioned in Case of Unknown Boy Found Dead in Maine

May 18, 2001

A person of interest is being questioned in connection with the case of a
young boy found dead on the side of a back road near the Maine-New
Hampshire border, FoxNews.com confirms.

State police are holding
the person at the Concord Barracks and are set to hold a press
conference later Wednesday, a police spokesman said.

Meanwhile, investigators are working to identify the boy, believed to be between between 4 and 6 years old.

The U.S. Navy's elite police unit joined the investigation after a witness
reported seeing a Navy emblem on the license plate of a pickup truck
that was spotted in the area.

Investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are going to military installations in
the Northeast in hopes of being able to identify the boy, his body
discovered Saturday beside a back road in South Berwick.

The witness told police that a navy blue Toyota Tacoma
pickup truck was seen in the area around the same time authorities
believe the body was dumped. The truck was believed to have been driven
by a woman. The truck had an extended cab with a cap and white license
plates, though the state and number were unclear, MyFoxMaine.com
reports.

Investigators say the boy may have been placed on
Dennett Road -- just off Route 4 -- at around 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The
child, described as 3 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 45 pounds, likely
died about two hours earlier, police said. Authorities have not yet
released how the boy died.

There is no missing person's report
that matches the description of the child, authorities say, and a
computer-generated photo of the boy has been released in hopes it will
garner leads.

Lt. Brian McDonough with the Maine State Police has pleaded with the public for help in identifying the child.

"Somebody has got to miss this child, (whether) it's the nephew of somebody or
the grandson of somebody, to that end, it's been very, very frustrating
that we haven't gotten any leads, significant leads, on identifying this
child," McDonough said Monday.

Meanwhile, about 400 people attended a candlelight vigil for the boy outside the South Berwick Town Hall Tuesday evening.

Vigil organizer Amy Aiguier says no human being should be unidentified.

"I'm just sad no one's claimed him," Heidi Hilton of Somersworth, N,H., told
MyFoxMaine.com. "A million people are here today to claim him, but his
family hasn't claimed him."



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/18/navy-joins-investigation-unidentified-boy-dead-maine/#ixzz1Mjj3aP6V

CONCORD, Mass. -- A woman who is believed to be the mother of the boy found in Maine was questioned by Massachusetts and Maine State Police on Wednesday.

The woman is currently at the Concord State Police barracks for questioning. Maine State Troopers arrived to the barracks in Concord on Wednesday afternoon to question the person of interest. It is believed that she is the mother of the boy found in Maine, but it has not been confirmed by police.

The woman, in her early 40s from Irving, Texas, is a person of interest. She has not been charged with anything. She was seen in a truck that matched the description of the truck spotted in Maine.

The woman's vehicle - a Toyota Tacoma likely to be Texas license plates - is currently at the Danvers State Police barracks for processing. Sources said a woman in the truck was spotted at 11 a.m. at a rest stop on 495 South in Chelmsford. She allegedly made statements referring to the Maine case.

State Police are expected to make a statement regarding a person of interest, who is currently in State Police custody and is believed to be related to the on-going investigation in Maine.

Stay with 7NEWS and WHDH.com for updates to this developing story. If you have information related to the story, please e-mail newstips@whdh.com.

(Copyright (c) 2011 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed


Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/12004343563610/officials-questioning-woman-in-maine-case/#ixzz1MjesiLso

I'm not sure if I did this right, please let me know if I didn't.

The mother's name is JuliMcCrery. The Maine police are questioning her right now. This is her MySpace page.
http://www.myspace.com/545022904/photos/12876?authkey=ppCeMOw63ypaW9zZd107cHabaRo%3D#%7B%22ImageId%22%3A12876%7D

Boy In Maine Mystery Identified As Camden Pierce Hughes



CONCORD (CBS) – A boy found dead in Maine Saturday has been identified as 6-year-old Camden Pierce Hughes of Texas. WBZ-TV was first to break the news Wednesday afternoon.
His mother, Juli Mccrery of Irving, Texas, is in Massachusetts State Police custody in Concord and has confessed to giving her son an overdose of medication that resulted in his death, sources tell WBZ-TV.

The truck was taken from the rest stop on I-495 in Chelmsford this morning. (Photo courtesy: lowellsun.com)

“We were together for two years, but I’ve known (the boy) since the day he was born,” said Robert Miller, Mccrery’s ex-boyfriend who also lives in Irving, Texas. “He was a very nice boy. He was an innocent boy.”
Camden Pierce Hughes’s body was discovered in South Berwick, Maine over the weekend, wrapped in a blanket next to a dirt road.
The break in the case came late Wednesday morning, when a Massachusetts state trooper spotted a blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck at a Chelmsford rest area off I-495. The truck matched the description of a vehicle witnesses spotted at the Maine crime scene on Saturday.
Sources told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 that the driver of that truck, a woman in her 40′s, was taken into protective custody after making statements regarding the death of her son. That woman has since been identified as Mccrery.
The truck, which had Navy insignia on the license plate, was taken to the State Police barracks in Danvers for processing.
For days police have been seeking the public’s help to identify the boy. They released a computer generated photo of a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy wearing a gray camouflage hoodie.
Autopsy results on Camden’s body have not been released.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/05/18/person-of-interest-questioned-in-maine-mystery-boy-case/

It was reported that the mother was reading the Bible when the patrolmen walked up to her pick-up. I'm wondering already about a psychological work up on her....

The computer generated image is remarkably similar to the real photo.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Report that Mother of Dead Boy in Maine Confesses

Dead boy's mother reportedly confesses




click image to enlarge
Massachusetts
State Police officers stand by as a Toyota pickup truck is placed on a
tow truck in a rest area along Interstate 495 in Chelmsford, Mass.,
today. Authorities had been searching for a blue Toyota Tacoma pickup
truck seen near where the body of a young boy was found Saturday in
South Berwick, Maine.
AP/Bob Whitaker


The mother of a 6-year-old boy found dead in South Berwick Saturday has confessed, a Boston television station is reporting.

WBZ, the CBS affiliate in Boston, is reporting that the boy's mother Juli McCrery is in custody but they have not said what she has confessed to.

CONCORD, MASS. — A Boston television station is reporting that the child whose
body was found last weekend in South Berwick is Camden Pierce Hughes of
Texas and that his mother is in custody as a person of interest in the
boy's death.

The CBS affiliate in Boston, WBZ, said the boy's
mother, Juli McCrery of Irving, Texas, was picked up by Massachusetts
police when her car was located at a rest area in Chelmsford, Mass.,
authorities have said.
The woman, described as white and in her 40s,
was taken to the Massachusetts state police barracks in Concord from a
rest stop on Interstate 495 in Chelmsford.
CONCORD, MASS. — A woman
believed to be the mother of the unidentified dead boy found in Maine
over the weekend is in protective custody.
The Eagle-Tribune
newspaper reports that Massachusetts State Police have taken a Texas
woman, described as white and in her 40s, to Massachusetts state police
barracks in Concord from a rest stop on Interstate 495 in Chelmsford.
The paper reported that a Toyota Tacoma truck was towed from the rest
stop.
The Boston Globe reports that the woman was taken into
protective custody. The Globe quoted police spokesman David Procopio as
saying that the woman was a person of interest and has not been charged
in the case.
The Globe also reported that police in Irving, Texas,
were notified by Massachusetts State Police that the woman may be from
their community. Irving police said they were not provided with the
woman's name.
The Lowell Sun is reporting that the truck found in the
rest area on I-495 was a blue four-door Toyota pickup truck with Texas
license plates, with a license frame bearing the words "Navy Mom," and
"U.S. Navy."
Maine State Police on Tuesday said the witness who saw a
blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck in South Berwick on Saturday morning
also remembered seeing a Navy insignia on the white background of the
license plate.



Posted by Seamus O Riley at 5/18/2011 03:31:00 PM

A Texas man says the boy whose body was found on a roadside in Maine is
the son of a longtime friend and that he called investigators after
seeing a computer-generated photo of the child that had been released by
police.
Christian von Atzigen of Irving said he called Maine state police
Wednesday after he recognized the boy as Camden Pierce Hughes. The boy
is the son of Julianne McCrery, a woman with whom he and his wife have
been friends for 15 years.
Police have not publicly disclosed the name of the boy, or a woman
being held for questioning in Massachusetts. Von Atzigen said a mutual
friend told him that woman was McCrery.
The woman was taken into custody at a highway rest stop, where she was found inside a pickup truck registered to McCrery.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/texas-man-boy-found-950089.html

HAMPTON, N.H. — State police have cordoned off the
parking lot at Stone Gable Inn on Route 1, searching for evidence of
whether 6-year-old Camden Pierce Hughes was killed there.

Camden's body was found Saturday in South Berwick,
Maine, just over the New Hampshire border. Yesterday morning, his
mother, Julianne McCrery, 41, of Irving, Texas, was taken into custody
at the Chelmsford, Mass., rest stop on Interstate 495, just south of
Lowell.

She reportedly confessed to police she killed her son with a lethal dose of cough syrup.

The Stone Gable Inn is a small, two-story hotel with
about 35 rooms, not far from Interstate 95. It's located less than 30
miles from where Camden's body was found and more than 1,800 miles from
where the mother and son called home.

Maine and Massachusetts State Police have referred all
questions about the investigation to the New Hampshire Attorney
General's office, but did not indicate why. Sources have said McCrery
gave information to police that led them to believe Camden was killed in
New Hampshire.

McCrery has since been hospitalized. She has not been formally charged in her son's death.

Police had been seeking the public's help in
identifying the young boy's body found Saturday about 4 p.m. A witness
described a blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck driven by a woman in the
area shortly before the body was found. It was described as having a
Navy insignia on the license plate.

Investigators released a computer-generated likeness of
the boy's face as it may have looked when he was alive in hopes the
public could identify him. The likeness was superimposed onto a picture
of Camden's dead body, still dressed in the camouflage zip-up sweatshirt
and T-shirt he was wearing when he was found under a blanket on the
dirt road Saturday.

Maine police said dozens of calls from all over the country and Canada poured in.

McCrery is the author of "Good Night, Sleep Tight: How
to Fall Asleep and Go Back to Sleep When You Wake Up." Her biography
associated with the book says she has two sons, the younger Camden and
an older boy in the U.S. Navy.

A telephone tip led police to the woman yesterday at a
highway rest stop in Chelmsford, Massachusetts State Police spokesman
David Procopio said.

Several troopers who responded engaged the woman in conversation, and she agreed to go to state police barracks for questioning.

The police discovery of the woman set off a rapid-fire chain of events yesterday.

By day's end, New Hampshire investigators had taken
over the case. New Hampshire officials advised that there would be no
comment until today, Maine officials said.

If New Hampshire decides to seek charges against the
woman, she would be considered a fugitive from justice in Massachusetts
and would not be allowed to go home from the hospital, Procopio said.

New Hampshire's senior assistant attorney general
Jeffery Strelzin confirmed that the state is involved in the
investigation, but had no further comment.

It's extremely unusual for a missing child to go
unreported. Similar cases happened only twice over the past two years,
said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children.

"In the vast, vast majority of these, there's someone, a parent or grandparent, searching for that child," Allen said yesterday.

In April 2010, the body of a 6-year-old boy was
discovered near a lake in north Texas, and his grandmother was
eventually charged with murder; in May 2009, a 3-year-old boy's body was
found buried at a playground in Albuquerque, N.M., and his mother was
eventually charged with killing him.

In both cases, family members failed to report the boys missing.

"In cases where children are murdered or disposed of,
typically the perpetrator is the one who should be reporting the child
missing," Allen said.

In Maine, the case has led to an outpouring of emotion.
Several hundred people attended a candlelight vigil in the boy's memory
Tuesday night in front of the South Berwick town hall.

Near where the boy was found, people have placed three
crosses, dozens of stuffed animals, candles, flowers, a baseball and
other children's items. A framed piece of paper says, "God Bless This
Little Boy."

Bruce and Laurie Ralph, who live down the street from where the body was found, placed a stuffed animal on the site.

"The whole community has come together and has feelings
for this boy, who nobody seems to know who he is," Laurie Ralph said
yesterday as she and her husband visited the site. "You hear of missing
children all the time, but when it happens in your hometown — and on
your own street — it's scarier."
http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1376632883/Boy-may-have-been-killed-in-Hampton

A Texas woman agreed this morning to be returned to New Hampshire to
face charges that she killed her 6-year-old son there and dumped him on a
Maine road last weekend, a crime that had puzzled investigators for
four days and generated international headlines.
Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, who was
taken into custody at a Massachusetts highway rest stop on Wednesday,
was expected to be arraigned on two charges of second-degree murder at
1:30 p.m. in Portsmouth District Court in New Hampshire.

Wearing blue hospital clothing with her hands handcuffed in front of
her, McCrery, who had long straight hair and bangs over her forehead,
answered questions from the Massachusetts judge this morning in a calm,
quiet voice.

“I wish to waive my right so I’m moved to New Hampshire,” she told
Judge Peter Kilmartin. She left the courthouse shortly after in a police
cruiser.

McCrery's Massachusetts attorney said he believed that she had come to New England to kill both her son and herself.

"I don't think she was here to look at Boothbay Harbor. I don't
believe she was here for a trip. I believe she was here to bring both
her son and herself to heaven," said George Murphy.McCrery is "distraught and suicidal"
and disappointed that the second-degree murder charges she faces will
not subject her to the death penalty, he said.

"She told me she would prefer the death penalty because that would get her to heaven sooner," Murphy said.

McCrery had tried to kill herself before, including three attempts in
2004 that were motivated by problems in her relationships, he said. She
also had attempted suicide "in the last few days" but he did not know
if that attempt was made before or after she allegedly killed her son.

New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Susan G. Morrell, who was at
the Concord courthouse, would not discuss the details of the case.
McCrery faces two charges of second-degree murder because under New
Hampshire law, a person can be charged with two counts for the same
crime, essentially for breaking the law in two different ways, she said.

Murphy said he had spoken to McCrery twice, once last night and once this morning.

McCrery told him, he said, that she had given a statement to police
Wednesday that was two to three hours long. “I don’t think she has much
to hide,” he said. "I believe it was characterized as a confession."

Murphy said he had asked her questions to try to gauge whether she
was mentally competent, and she seemed to answer appropriately.

McCrery's mother, LaRue McCrery of Curtis, Neb., said this morning in
a telephone interview that she was stunned to learn her daughter had
been charged with murder, and was struggling to make sense of it all.

"I was hoping it was an accident," she said. "Oh, God. It's all just unreal. It's like watching a movie or something."

McCrery said her daughter called her this morning, but that she
missed the call. In a brief message, the daughter said she was in jail
and asked her mother to "pray for me."

"She didn't say what had happened, or why she was up there," she said.

McCrery said her daughter had led a troubled life, sometimes turning
to prostitution to pay her bills. But she said Julianne McCrery loved
her son unconditionally, and never seemed overwhelmed by the demands of
raising a young boy on her own.

"She loved him completely," she said. "She did. She would do anything for him. I don't know how this could have happened."

Her daughter would occasionally leave town abruptly and drive long
distances to visit friends, she said. She recalled a time she left on
the spur of the moment and drove some 2,000 miles to Washington state.

"She was prone to be impulsive like that," she said. But she didn't think she knew anyone in New England, she said.

McCrery said she saw her daughter on the TV news last night, and said she looked scared and exhausted.

"This is all just beyond..." she said, her words fading into a deep sigh. "Just beyond."

McCrery was taken into custody Wednesday by Massachusetts State Police at a rest stop on Interstate 495 in Chelmsford.

New Hampshire Attorney General Michael A. Delaney said in a statement
that preliminary findings of an autopsy indicated that McCrery’s son,
Camden Pierce Hughes, had been asphyxiated. He alleged that McCrery
killed her son Saturday in Hampton, N.H., hours before his body was
discovered on a dirt road in South Berwick, Maine. the Globe reports this morning.

Seacoastonline.com reports today that New Hampshire State Police and
Hampton, N.H., police searched the Stone Gable Inn in Hampton Wednesday
night, shortly before the murder charge was announced.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/05/defense_attorne_4.html?rss_id=Top+Stories

‘Distraught’ Julianne McCrery On Suicide Watch



May 19, 2011 5:56 PM


BOSTON (CBS) – According to her attorney, Julianne McCrery was distraught and suicidal after she was taken into custody for the death of her 6-year-old son, Camden Pierce Hughes.
“She’s crying, she’s distraught and says ‘I want to leave this earth as soon as possible,’” said George Murphy, McCrery’s court-appointed defense attorney.
Wearing hospital scrubs and looking despondent, 42-year-old Julianne McCrery told Murphy that she no longer wants to be alive. Instead, she wants to be with her son in heaven.
“She told me that she tried to go to heaven while she’s been up here. And I said, ‘Did you try to commit suicide?’ She said ‘Yes,’” said Murphy.
After she was taken into custody on Wednesday, she was questioned by police for several hours before being transported to Emerson Hospital for a mental evaluation.


Camden Pierce Hughes (credit: LuRae McCrery)

“I know she was offered food by police, and she declined,” said Murphy.
On Thursday, McCrery was transported to New Hampshire after her fugitive-from-justice charge was dismissed to face second degree murder charges in Camden’s death.
McCrery told the judge in Concord she understood all the charges she faces and willingly waived her rendition rights from Massachusetts.
McCrery is accused of killing her son in a motel room in New Hampshire and dumping his body on a secluded road in southern Maine.
Right now, it’s unclear why McCrery drove all the way from Texas to New Hamphire to do the unthinkable.
“I don’t believe she was up here for a trip. I believe she was up here to bring both her son and herself to heaven,” said Murphy.
Murphy added that McCrery said she would prefer the dealth penalty because that will get her to heaven faster. McCrery also told him that she tried to kill herself back in 2004 because of poor relationships.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/05/19/distraught-julianne-mccrery-on-suicide-watch/

Julianne McCrery on suicide watch

May 20, 2011 5:24am

(NECN: Josh Brogadir) - Rockingham County House of Corrections Superintendent Stephen Church said Julianne McCrery is inside the jail and is on suicide watch.

She'll be there through the weekend and could be through next week.

He could have her moved to another facility in New Hampshire at some point.

Facing a judge, her face streaked with tears, Julianne McCrery, who drove to New England all the way from Texas, now stands accused of two counts of second degree murder for killing her son in Hampton, New Hampshire.

"There's always the opportunity to upgrade charges when we go before the grand jury," said New Hampshire Senior Asst. Attorney General Susan Morrell.

It's believed that 6-year-old Camden Hughes was asphyxiated in room 104 at the Stone Gable Inn, and that his mother drove him to South Berwick, Maine, where she placed his body on the edge of a wooded area.

The boy went unidentified for days and the break in the case was Wednesday morning when a truck driver spotted her blue Toyota Tacoma pickup at a rest stop in Chelmsford, MA.

State police moved in and took her into protective custody.

Yesterday, the case moved quickly through the courts, beginning with her arraignment in Concord, Massachusetts on a fugitive from justice charge out of New Hampshire.

"I don't believe she was up here for a trip. I believe she was up here to bring her son and herself to heaven," said George Murphy, her defense attorney in MA.

Friends say McCrery had tried to commit suicide at least two other times in her life, before Camden was born.

And then in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, she was arraigned on second degree murder charges for killing that son - but will not be eligible for the death penalty if convicted, even if the charges are upgraded to first degree murder.

"Probably there's some evidence that she did not plan this in any significant way number one. Number two, I'm sure they're very concerned about her mental capabilities, her mental state at the time," said University of New Hampshire Law Professor Albert Scherr.

Eligibility for the death penalty in this state include such crimes as killing a police officer or murder for hire, not for killing your child.

It will be interesting to see what family members, if any, come here to visit her in New Hampshire.

Her next court appearance is a probable cause hearing Thursday in Hampton District Court.


http://www.necn.com/05/20/11/Julianne-McCrery-on-suicide-watch/landing_newengland.html?blockID=526023&feedID=4206