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Reporter: Amanda Goodman

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Burying a child, especially a baby is heartbreaking. Sometimes so much so that parents cannot bring themselves to do it.  That is when the Metropolitan Community Church of Albuquerque steps in.

“The medical examiner’s office calls us and lets us know that they have a baby and asks us if we’ll take it in and bury it,” said Reverend Judith Maynard of MCC.  The church buries abandoned and unclaimed babies through its ‘littlest angels’ program.

A member named George Rombold felt compelled to the start the program nearly a decade ago after reading a similar program in California.
Since then the congregation has buried about 20 babies in Albuquerque, each time holding a simple memorial and funeral service, attended by church members.

Earlier this week four babies were laid to rest at Sunset Memorial Park.  “That was the most that we’ve done at one time, we’ve done two together, but this was the most we’ve done,” Reverend Maynard said.  Everything is donated for the funerals except for the monuments, that is when the congregation steps up again, donating the $300-$400 needed for the monuments.  “The congregation, even though many of them don’t have children, they’ve embraced these babies as their own they come to the services, they sit there, they weep as if it was their very own,” Maynard said.  Claiming the babies that no one wanted in life by being there for them after their death to make sure they receive a proper farewell.?

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Reporter: Amanda Goodman

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A year after a baby was found buried in a cardboard box, detectives have closed the case, but they have not solved it.

Baby Angel as she’s called has not been forgotten though. On Wednesday she was given a proper burial thanks to members of the Metropolitan Community Church of Albuquerque and their ‘Littlest Angels’ program.  “We give them just a very simple burial service letting them know, no matter how short their lives were here, they were important, they mattered and that they were loved,” said Reverend Judith Maynard.

Bernalillo County Sheriff’s detectives gave the newborn the name Angel after her tiny decomposed body was found buried in diaper boxes on a piece of property near Cedar Crest, that was last March.  “We didn’t get any information that led us to a suspect or to a family,” said Detective Santiago Roybal.  As a result, Detective Roybal had to close the case last month pending any further leads, leaving a lot of unanswered questions.  Even after an autopsy Roybal said doctors were not able to determine how the baby died or if she even took a breath, but investigators don’t think she was murdered.  “She didn’t have any signs of trauma that we could tell at the time, her skeletal structure was complete, her head was fine there weren’t any broken bones,” Roybal said.  Detectives said whoever buried her did so with care, wrapping the newborn in blankets and putting her in a box inside of a box.

Now nearly a year later, baby Angel is being buried again with great care, this time with a proper funeral service.  “I also grieve for the family that laid little baby angel to rest and I hope that where ever they are, know that god loves them and baby angel is resting in peace,” Maynard said.

It’s a thought investigators hope will encourage baby Angel’s family to come forward and claim her, so they can put their case to rest as well.  “It’s never too late and all of us in this unit and the sheriff’s department would love to solve this case,” Roybal said.  The only possible charge in this case would be improper disposal of a body, which is a fourth degree felony.  Anyone with information is asked to call (505) 798-7000.

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Our founder The Reverend Elder Troy Perry established Metropolitan Community Churches as a vital part of the effort for Marriage Equality in the United States and around the world.  We are still committed to that effort today.  You can make a difference with your peaceful activism and your commitment to being a voice for Marriage Equality in our denomination, in your community and around the world.

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