It’s been a year since one of the most disturbing and confounding murder mysteries captivated the attention and horror of the Boston area—and the nation.
On the morning of June 25, 2015, a woman walking her dog on Deer Island found a garbage bag washed up on shore. When the dog started pawing at the bag she opened it slightly and was so horrified at what she saw she could barely compose herself to call 911. The story was an instant sensation with news helicopters swirling around the rocky shores of Deer Island not far from the wastewater treatment plant. Within days, police issued an artist’s rendering of the girl: long brown hair, round face, pierced ears and hazel-brown eyes. She was wearing polka-dot leggings, no shirt, and in the large contractor bag were two little blankets, one with zebra stripes. She became known as Baby Doe.
Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley pleaded for help, asking the parents or guardians of the little girl to clear their conscience and come forward. No one did. The story never disappeared from the news as the image of the child was broadcast and viewed more than 60 million times. Tips poured in; no leads were solid.
Then in early September, law enforcement erected 85 digital billboards around the state with Baby Doe’s face and wide-open eyes staring down. Still nothing.
Then a clue—forensic testing revealed the body was covered with local pollen, meaning she likely lived nearby. But it wasn’t until police received a tip two weeks later that the case finally unraveled. The child was Bella Neva Amoroso Bond, just two years old. Police arrested the child’s mother, Rachelle Bond and her boyfriend Michal McCarthy.
Bond blamed it on McCarthy saying in May he had punched the girl in the stomach until she stopped crying. When they realized she was dead, the two got out a large contractor bag, stuffed Bella’s body in, put her in their refrigerator, and went on a heroin binge. Sometime in June, the drug-addled McCarthy dumped Bella’s body in the harbor off South Boston.
Bella’s biological father, Joseph Amoroso, who never met the girl, showed up in court, rocking with Bella’s toy rubber ducky. He said Bond was innocent and said the state Department of Children and Families had failed to follow up on calls he and his mother made to the agency to alert them about Bella’s living conditions. The two defendants have another court hearing on July 11. They won’t be there and neither will Amoroso. He failed to show at a recent court hearing on shoplifting charges. Police say during one of his recent arrests he exclaimed, “Do you know who I am? I am Baby Bella’s father.”
