Baby’s Skeleton Found in Attic of D.C. House

Contractors installing duct work Tuesday found a suitcase containing the skeleton of a baby who apparently died more than 20 years ago, police said.

The suitcase was in the attic of a two-story house in a well-to-do neighborhood of northwest Washington.

“When they attempted to remove it, the suitcase basically came apart in their hands,” police Lt. Josiah M. Eaves said.

He added that the blue suitcase appeared to be more than 30 years old. The skeleton, which was wrapped in cloth, “appears to have been there quite a long time, in excess of 20 years,” Eaves said. Police estimated that the baby was 1 or 2 months old at the time of death.

The brick, semidetached house was built in 1928 and was occupied by the same family until the mid-1990s. The last of four elderly sisters who lived there died in 1995 at the age of 102, and the house was sold five years ago.

Neighbor Beryl Hall, 81, who has lived across the street from the house since 1963, said she was shocked by the finding.

“They were all little Christian ladies,” she said of the elderly sisters.

The current owner told police that she never went into the attic, and police said she is not suspected of wrongdoing. Police said they were trying to locate relatives of the previous owners.

Eaves said an autopsy would be done to determine the precise age of the infant, and about when the baby died.