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Who killed Baby August? Bronx homicide detectives strain to find answers after grisly discovery two years ago

Scene where Bronx baby's body parts were found floating in sewage
Two years later, however, detectives are still no closer to solving all the disturbing questions surrounding the case. Who is “Baby August”? Who killed her, and why? And why in such a gruesome manner?
Photo by Dean Moses

There remains so much that Bronx detectives still do not know about “Baby August” — the name given to newborn body parts found floating at a sewage treatment plant two years ago.

Baby August’s story began on Aug. 31, 2022, when workers at the Hunts Point Treatment Control Plant found a tiny leg and another limb mired in the muck that morning. The discovery set off a massive police investigation and a media frenzy; an army of press photographers waited outside the plant while NYPD officials scoured the plant for clues about the baby’s death. 

Two years later, however, detectives are still no closer to solving all the disturbing questions surrounding the case. Who is “Baby August”? Who killed her, and why? And why in such a gruesome manner?

Detective Devernier Smith of the 41st Precinct Detective Squad and Detective Frankie Soler of the Bronx Homicide Squad are leading the charge in finding answers in what has been dubbed the “Baby August” case. Both men say the case is not easy mainly due to the large geographical area the treatment plant serves.

Detective Devernier Smith of the 41st Precinct Detective Squad and Detective Frankie Soler of the Bronx Homicide Squad are leading the charge in finding answers in what has been dubbed the “Baby August” case. Both men say the case is not easy mainly due to the large geographical area the treatment plant serves. Photo by Dean Moses

“It [the water] comes from a lot of different locations, so we really couldn’t narrow it down. We were working around the clock to try to figure that out, but there are so many locations in the Bronx that it comes from,” Soler explained. “Not only do they get all this water from these different locations in the Bronx, but somebody could have definitely just come from another location and dumped the body parts there in a nearby sewer.”

With only legs to go on, cops are unable to officially declare the incident a homicide without the rest of the body. Some sources familiar with the investigation, however, believe the child had been dismembered before being dumped.

“Based on our investigation, we don’t believe that the legs were detached in the sewer, we believe that it was done prior. We just can’t get into too much detail on how we believe it took place,” Soler told amNewYork Metro.

Still, although the years have passed with very few leads, the detectives say they knew from the first day that it would not be a short investigation.

“Just from arriving on the scene, we knew at that point that this was going to be one of those long-haul cases. It wasn’t going to be something that we were gonna solve in five hours, 12 hours. We knew we were in this for the long haul at that point,” Smith said.

Both investigators say they had the morbid and emotionally draining task of imprinting the feet in hopes of finding a match to a newborn. Cops say they also attempted to follow leads at local hospitals and with individuals who may have been expecting a child around that time — but have come up empty.

 Smith and Soler are asking for help from the public to try and help find the identity of Baby August.

“For example, if they know somebody that was possibly pregnant around the time frame of Aug. 31, 2022, but they don’t have the baby right now, they can come forward, let us know, and then hopefully we can go out and just talk to people from there,” Smith said.

Both men stressed that this case is not about mere body parts — it is about a person, someone’s child, and someone’s grandchild.

Bringing to mind their own youth family members, the detectives say they want to keep the investigation and the conversation surrounding it alive no matter how long it takes to be solved.

“There’s been no big developments with this case. But again, this is a slow-moving case, we knew what we were getting into with this one. We know it’s a slow-moving case, but the goal here is just not to give up on it, and that’s why we’re here,” Detective Soler said.

A cash reward of more than $3,000 is being offered for any information that could help in the case.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, the 41st Precinct Detective Squad at 718-542-5313 or the Bronx Homicide Squad at 718-378-8791. All calls are kept confidential.