A St. Louis man cleaning out his mother’s home after her death made a gruesome discovery that may have revealed a dark family secret.
“I’m 37 and it has been in my freezer for 37 years. I was always told it was a wedding cake top,” Smith told KSDK, adding that his mother told him never to open the box.
According to the report, the frozen infant corpse was wrapped in pink fleece.
“It still had skin, hair, and everything,” Smith said. “It was mummified.”
Smith reportedly believes the remains belong to a sister who was born years before her was. He told the news station that his mother admitted she lost a child before he was born, but never shared the details.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Smith said he contacted his estranged father about the discovery of the remains.
“He told me my mom was pregnant on their first date and that the next time he saw her, she wasn’t,” Smith told the newspaper.
Smith told the newspaper that he had been hearing from other relatives that his mother had more children and marriages than he was aware of. Relatives reportedly said that his mother had given birth to a set of twins at one time, but that one of the infants was stillborn, and the other was given up for adoption.
Smith also said that when he was about 7 or 8 years old, his mother told him about a daughter who “would have” turned 21 that day. But she never said any more about it.
“Even as she was on her deathbed, she never told me what was in that box,” Smith told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “That’s what makes me think maybe she did something to this baby and didn’t want to tell anyone because she was afraid she would get in trouble.”
According to KDSK, Smith contacted police about the discovery and they are investigating.
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