Cold and Missing: Baby Victor

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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.

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All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages and is intended for a mature

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audience.

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Listener discretion is advised.

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Welcome back everyone.

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Welcome back.

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This is Cold and Missing.

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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski .

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And I am your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.

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And here at Cold and Missing we focus exclusively on...

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Cold cases and unresolved missing person cases.

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Alright, so we had a little blip this week.

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Yeah, I want to apologize to our listeners.

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I know our episodes usually come out on Monday and this is coming out on a Tuesday.

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Eli and I were both really sick this weekend.

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You were much more than I was.

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Yeah, I don't think I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but I get chronic migraines,

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so I get like 15 or more a month.

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And I'm usually able to white-knuckle through them to get the podcast out, but this past

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weekend was just a three-day non-stop migraine fest.

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So I went ahead and took the time to rest.

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I'm sure if you've ever had a migraine, you will understand.

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And thanks for joining us on a Tuesday and we'll be back to our regular schedule next

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week.

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Well, we're definitely glad to be back, even if we're a day behind schedule.

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But I think our followers are with us.

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What do you think, honey?

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I think they're there.

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So without further ado, enough waiting.

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We have a cold case this week.

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We're on a cold case.

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Yes.

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Alrighty, let's get to it.

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So today I have a cold case and just as a content warning at the top, this does involve

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an infant.

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This is the cold case of Baby Victor, an unknown baby that was found in Fairfield, Connecticut

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in March of 1986.

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But first a little bit about Baby Victor.

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So Victor was actually given that name by police because they believe that they will

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be victorious in solving this crime.

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Victor was likely born on March 13th, 1986.

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He would be 37 years old today.

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He was white with brown hair and brown eyes.

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He was 20 inches long and six pounds.

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And now a timeline of events.

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On Friday, March 14th, 1986, three town conservation employees were emptying trash cans at Lake

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Mohegan near an area known as the Cascades.

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It was a popular jogging and hiking area.

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It was also known as a makeout spot and the occasional party would break out there.

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At 9.53 a.m., the workers find the body of a newborn baby next to a trash can.

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The baby's body had been laid on a scrap piece of burlap and had been wrapped in women's

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PJs with red cherries on them.

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A piece of plastic was laid over the baby and surrounding him were pieces of food, fruit,

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coins and trinkets.

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Immediately police begin to wonder if the baby was part of a ritual.

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Police Captain Joseph Sandbrook says, quote, We kind of feel that maybe the baby was the

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result of an unwed mother or maybe was conceived by someone other than the woman's husband.

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And due to archaic religious beliefs, the baby had to be killed.

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And this ritual performed.

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That's what it kind of looks like today.

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It's just not a baby thrown away.

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End quote.

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On Saturday, March 15th, 1986, Victor's autopsy is done and it's revealed that he was alive

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when he was born and the official cause of death is suffocation.

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After death, his jaw was broken and injuries were made to the head and face.

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But police don't go into what they are.

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They say that it's too, quote, shocking.

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End quote.

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But that the marks could have some sort of religious significance.

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Captain Sandbrook says, quote, We don't believe it is a cult type thing, but we suspect that

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some sort of ceremony was performed.

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End quote.

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Police begin talking with religious officials and anthropology professors about what this

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could possibly be.

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It's also around this time that police are contacted by a bank data processing center

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that was located at the King's Highway Black Rock Turnpike Traffic Circle in Fairfield.

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According to police, employees heard screaming coming from the women's restroom on March

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13th, the day before Victor was found.

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Then employees heard a baby crying.

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No one in the office checked the noises out and the bathrooms were only accessible to

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employees.

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On the evening, a cleaning crew found a large quantity of blood in the women's restroom.

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The crew cleans it up, leaving no trace and again doesn't report it.

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On Tuesday, March 18th, police believe heavily that the killing was part of a ritual and

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they begin to zero in on Santeria.

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However, very quickly, people with actual knowledge of Santeria shut this down.

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Alan Howard, the professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston

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says quote, categorically, nothing that was done to harm the child had anything to do

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with Santeria, end quote.

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Since baby Victor was found, police had been scouring the area looking for clues.

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They'll use bloodhounds, aircraft and deploy divers into Lake Mohegan and the nearby Mill

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River, but they'll all come up empty.

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On Thursday, March 20th, this is six days since baby Victor was found, police announced

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that they are going to be operating in a quote, media blackout, but hold firm that the murder

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was religious or ritualistic.

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Police also invite detective Richard Alvarez, a detective from New Jersey who had investigated

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cult related killings to Fairfield to review the case.

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And then from here, the case really goes cold.

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It is a little hard to research because the baby didn't have a name until 2011.

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But in everything that I could find, the next thing that pops up is actually in 2009.

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In 2009, so this would be 23 years since baby Victor was found.

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In reviewing the case, police review the crime scene photos and notice graffiti on a picnic

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table 20 to 30 feet from where Victor was found.

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The graffiti ultimately leads back to a Bridgeport West End gang who used to hang out in the

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area.

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In March 2011, so this is 25 years since baby Victor has been found, police reopen the investigation.

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It's also at this time that he's given the name Victor.

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Police began reexamining the evidence to see if there are any things that can be tested

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with new technology.

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And from this, police are able to pull a full DNA profile from the pajamas who they believe

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were Victor's mother and they believe the DNA profile is Victor's mother.

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But then that is all that I could find.

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In 2018, there was a 32 year anniversary where they went over the case again in the local

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media, but that was really it.

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There was no new evidence that was revealed in 2018.

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So if you know anything about the death of baby Victor or the identity of baby Victor,

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you are encouraged to call Detective Carrie Dowling at the Fairfield police and that's

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203-254-4840 or you can email her at kdalling.us or you can call the tip line at 860-548-0606

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and there is a $25,000 reward.

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And the sources for today's podcast come from the Hartford Courant and I read seven

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different articles by them.

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They really covered this case, especially in 1986 when it was happening.

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The Daily News, the Post Star, Press of Atlantic City, Ashbury Park Press, Connecticut.gov,

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ConnecticutInsider.com and ConnecticutPost.com.

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So that is the case of baby Victor.

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And thank you for the trigger warning or just like the content warning.

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Yeah, this it's a hard one.

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It's I mean, they all are but the and I know we've talked about this before, you know,

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specifically in cases that are cold and missing the the discarding of like the human life

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in in this case, it's just there's no way for that not to feel like very palpable and

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present because that's literally what happened, you know, or seems like that.

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And it's just honestly, honey, it's like kind of difficult to talk about.

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I mean, I don't think it should be easy.

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Yeah.

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And I think the added layer of just like not really knowing who this baby is, you know,

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and being named years after the fact, like that's really heartbreaking because he is

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a person he he was a life that was here for a short time, but deserves a name deserves

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respect deserves it all.

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So yeah, pretty bunch the instant clue that, you know, whoever gave birth to him was probably

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not in any sort of positive situation.

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I'm just going to go ahead and assume.

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Yeah, I would say that whoever gave birth to baby Victor was not in a good place.

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Yeah, I feel like I don't have enough maybe developed language around, you know, pregnancy

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and and giving birth.

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But the first thing I thought was like someone was forced into birthing or don't even want

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to say it.

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Like, well, I guess that like forced like the baby was maybe not ready.

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And do you do you know what I'm saying?

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Like the baby was taken out or?

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Well, they do think that baby Victor is tied to the woman giving birth at the bank data

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processing center.

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Correct.

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Yes.

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And as a side note to that, like, I am somebody who works in an office.

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And if I heard screaming, coming from the restroom and nobody screaming anywhere, yeah,

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and nobody thought to go check on it.

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I'm like, what is happening at this workplace that that is like, that that wasn't out of

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the norm.

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Like if that's the mill, what else is happening there?

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And for the cleaning crew to like not notify anyone like, hey, there's a bunch of blood

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in the bathroom.

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Like, what is like?

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Yeah.

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So they do believe that that could possibly be where baby Victor was born because the

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timeline matches up to how old he was.

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Yeah, I mean, I think my body or brain just naturally filled in that detail.

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That must be who it is.

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But still the circumstance surrounding that is like, again, like, how what?

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Why?

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Why was someone giving birth in an office if that's the case?

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And like, no one did anything yet.

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Just like tons and tons of questions.

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Right.

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And then to go from possibly giving birth in an office to then this site at Lake Mohegan

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that is set up.

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You know, that has the trinkets, it has the coins, it has the fruit like it.

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Yeah, it took time.

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So yeah, again, this one is just this one is just very strange.

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Lots of questions, lots of unanswered already existing questions.

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Oh, yeah.

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And again, if you know anything about what happened to baby Victor in March of 1986,

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please call the tip line at the Fairfield Police Department at 860-548-0606 or you can

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contact Detective Carrie Dowling directly at 203-254-4840 or email her at kdalling at

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town.fairfield.ct.us.

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Yeah, that is all we have.

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So again, as we always pitch at the end of our podcast, if you would like to follow us,

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we're going to be posting more about baby Victor this week on our Instagram.

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You can follow us at Cold and Missing while you're in your podcast app getting ready to

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go to your next show.

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If you could leave us a review or subscribe so that way you never miss an episode.

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If we ever have to go on a Tuesday again, you won't miss it.

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You'll be right in the know and you'll have the new episode there when you wake up in

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the morning.

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And yeah, and thank you so much for everyone who's been reviewing and reaching out to us

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either via the Instagram or on our YouTube channel.

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It's been great conversation and really appreciate family that's been reaching out from some

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of the cases that we've covered.

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So yeah, that's honestly when it's the most it's when we feel the work.

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Yeah, that's the best feeling in the world is to have family say thank you.

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It's very humbling.

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But that's all I have.

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So have a good week and stay safe, y'all.

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Stay safe, y'all.