A significant development has emerged in the haunting cold case of “Baby Mary,” a newborn found deceased in Mendham Township, New Jersey, on Christmas Eve 1984. Mary Catherine Crumlich, 57, of Columbia, South Carolina, has been adjudicated delinquent for her involvement in the death of Baby Mary. On April 3, 2024, Judge Michael P. Wright sentenced Crumlich to probation with a condition of 364 days in the Morris County Correctional Facility.
Crumlich, who was a juvenile in 1984 and known as Snyder at the time, entered a guilty plea to Manslaughter on February 28, 2024. This charge correlates with a second-degree crime had an adult committed it. Her arrest on April 24, 2023, followed a juvenile delinquency complaint for the same charge.
Two boys discovered Baby Mary in a remote wooded area off Mt. Pleasant Road, her body wrapped in a towel and placed inside a plastic bag, with the umbilical cord still attached. The subsequent investigation ruled her death a homicide. Despite the tragedy, the infant was baptized and named Mary by Rev. Michael Drury and laid to rest at St. Joseph’s Church in Mendham Township.
Decades of relentless investigation, leveraging new technologies and multi-state law enforcement efforts, finally led to the identification of Baby Mary’s biological parents. While the biological father, who had passed away before he could be identified, is not believed to have been aware of the pregnancy or Baby Mary’s subsequent death, the breakthrough provided much-needed closure on a case that has lingered for nearly 40 years.
Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll commended the exhaustive efforts of multiple agencies and individuals in bringing resolution to this tragic case, emphasizing the perseverance of law enforcement in pursuing justice for Baby Mary.