Smartly-dressed New England mom, 59, appears in court charged with 1985 murder of baby boy who was dumped in snow to die 5%
By RACHEL BOWMAN32%
6/30/2026, 8:45:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 8 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Appeal to Emotion, and Appeal to Authority, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 14.5% saturation with 95 hits. Analysis detected 438 faulty-reasoning hits from 654 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 20.2% and a BS Rank of 5% (20,848 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 95.30% of the article peer group.
A Massachusetts woman made her first court appearance after she charged with the murder of her newborn son who was found dead in the snowy woods over 40 years ago.
Dianne Curry Peck, 59, was indicted on Monday for the January 1985 death of her infant son, WCVB reported.
A father and son made the grim discovery as they walked through a snow-covered wooded area near the Mansfield Airport to go rabbit hunting, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office.
'As the father walked toward the woods, he noticed footprints in the snow that ended at a stone wall,' the DA's Office said.
'As he began to climb over the stone wall, he observed what, at first, he thought was a doll lying in the snow.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was the naked body of a newborn baby.'
The baby was partially covered by the snow and was deceased.
The medical examiner determined he had been born alive but had died a short time after his birth.
The case went unsolved for decades, until Peck was indicted for murder after DNA testing by the FBI identified her as the baby's mother.
She pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday and was released on $10,000 bond.
Dianne Curry Peck, 59, pleaded not guilty to murder after she was indicted for the death of her newborn baby in 1985
Peck was charged with murder after her newborn son was found dead in the snowy woods over 40 years ago
'We reconstructed family trees, examined historical records while our partners conducted traditional investigative work to corroborate every lead generated through science,' said FBI Boston Special Agent-In-Charge Ted Docks.
'Few cases are more heartbreaking than one involving a newborn baby, allegedly abandoned and left to die in the woods by his mother, deprived of the care, love and protection every child deserves.
'For 41 years, this child was known simply as Baby Boy Doe.
He entered this world with limitless promise, but was denied the most basic right to live.'
During the court hearing, prosecutors said that after they identified Peck as a suspect, they obtained trash from her home and used it to confirm she was watch for the mother of the baby, the Taunton Daily Gazette reported.
Peck allegedly admitted to police that she gave birth to the baby, but claimed she had given him to her ex-boyfriend.
She was a 17-year-old senior at Mansfield High School at the time.
The ex-boyfriend died in 2020, but DNA testing from a relative confirmed he was the father, prosecutors said.
Peck's attorney, Jason Maloney, briefly spoke to the press after the hearing.
'We would ask all parties reserve judgment until all the facts present themselves,' Maloney said.
A father and son made the grim discovery as they walked through a snow-covered wooded area near the Mansfield Airport to go rabbit hunting in 1985
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said, 'This was a very big case to the community of Mansfield, which is understandable.
Any time anybody dies, it's a loss.
But when an infant dies, it has a particular effect on people.
'This [DNA] testing, along with the further investigation, which was significant, has led us to the defendant in this case.
And the grand jury returned an indictment.'
The case was part of the district attorney's unidentified bodies project that launched in 2022.
The initiative saw investigators use advanced technology to identify remains that were discovered in the last 40 years.
'Identifying these remains is part of our ongoing Cold Case initiative.
We are trying to identify these remains so that family members can have some closure and to also determine if a crime was committed,' Quinn said at the time.
Peck's next court date is scheduled for August 31.
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