By: Scott Morgan
A California non-profit organization last week offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who can identify a young girl whose remains were found in Upper Freehold’s Clayton Park in March 2005 and bring the killers to justice.
The Carol Sund/Carrington Memorial Foundation, which seeks to find missing persons nationwide, offered the reward as an incentive to help State Police crack the two-and-a-half-year-old case. The announcement comes two weeks after State Police detectives released a pair of composite sketches of what is now believed to be a 5- to 9-year-old black girl.
The skull originally was found by a hunter in the 421-acre park off Route 526. Former Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye said in 2005 that the remains showed no signs of trauma and had likely been left outside for more than a year.
It was the second time in three years that a body had been dumped in Upper Freehold, the first belonging to a still-unidentified Hispanic man who had been stuffed into a suitcase and left in the woods off Emley’s Hill Road.
According to the State Police, forensic tests showed that the girl likely lived in a community with fluorinated (rather than well) water and died between 2001 and 2004. The cause of death, however, remains undetermined.
Detectives hope the newly released composites will trigger someone’s recognition of the girl and they remain cautiously optimistic.
"This is a very solvable case," said State Police Lt. Colonel Gayle Cameron, deputy superintendent of investigations. "If the right people see these images."
Detectives will continue working on the case, she said.
Detectives also have set up a phone line to receive tips on this child’s identity. Personnel have been placed on standby to immediately pursue any leads that may be generated by the public. Information can be given confidentially, if needed.
Anyone with any information is asked to call (toll free) 1-866-657-7411.

