Died of Exposure in Simi Valley Trash Bin : 100 Mourn a Baby Girl They Never Knew

Nearly 100 mourners paid their last respects Monday to a baby they never knew.

The baby girl was found dead Jan. 6 in a trash bin behind a Simi Valley supermarket. A Ventura County coroner’s autopsy determined the infant had lived about three hours before dying of exposure. Simi Valley Police homicide investigators have been trying to locate the child’s parents.

Meanwhile, the Simi Valley Police Officers’ Assn. arranged the funeral at the Assumption Cemetery in the East Ventura County city. Some in the crowd, drawn by publicity following a police announcement of the event last week, brought flowers that were laid around the small, white casket in which the child was buried in the shade of a juniper tree.

“Someone had to care,” said Pat Matuzak, 43, of Simi Valley who came with her daughter, daughter-in-law and baby granddaughter. Her teen-age daughter had insisted on coming, she said.

Father Michael Bunny, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Simi Valley, sprinkled the casket with holy water. The Rev. Jill Robertson, a pastor at Simi Valley Presbyterian Church, read from the Book of Psalms.

“I didn’t know this child, but it’s like my own,” said Robyn Simone, 28, of Simi Valley, who held her 5-month-old daughter. “It’s like I lost my own child.”

A grave marker provided by the police officers’ association was to read, “An infant at peace with our Father. She will be missed by all, forgotten by none. January 6, 1987,” Police Lt. Jon Ainsworth said.

Fingerprints Being Checked

Simi Valley police have not yet turned up a promising lead in the investigation of the baby’s death, said Detective Sgt. Tony Harper, who was at the funeral. Fingerprints found on a trash bag found wrapped around the baby are being checked electronically against prints of about 4 million people with arrest records in California, Harper said.

The police officers’ group arranged the funeral to pay respects to the child but also in the hope that one of her parents might show up, Harper said. But if one did, the detective said, he or she did not step forward.

“The only way we’re really going to solve it is if someone from the community comes forward, or if the mother comes forward or has an attack of conscience and decides to come clean on this,” Harper said.

Many of those who did show up for the funeral on the sunny afternoon spoke of their own children.

As Robertson read a closing prayer, Laura Hart, 26, of Simi Valley shook her head. Hart, who is pregnant, said her baby is due “any day now.”

A man in his mid-40s, who gave his name only as Gary, stood solemnly during the service. He lost a 16-year-old son two years ago in an automobile accident, he said.

“Something like this is incredible,” he said. “How could anybody do that? Too many people want babies.”

The funeral lasted about a half hour, or about one-sixth the time authorities believe the baby had lived.