US investigators have reportedly established a firm Scots link to a mummified baby mystery centred on Los Angeles but ruled out a tie with Peter Pan creator J. M. Barrie.
After speculation that the morbid case might somehow be connected to the Kirriemuir-born author, it now seems the 80-year-old mystery may revolve around a Scottish nanny who shared the same initials.
The macabre tale began when a trunk with the mummified remains of a baby and a foetus was found in the basement of an Los Angeles apartment building.
They were wrapped in sheets and crumpled copies of 1930s newspapers in a trunk which also contained Peter Pan-related memorabilia and that set the investigation trail towards Barrie’s homeland.
The abandoned trunk was described as a 1930s time capsule with jewellery, an iron, girdle, figurine, books, photos, documents and a painted cigar box inside.
Two women clearing the basement found the babies when they looked into a doctor’s bag in the trunk. It is not known if the babies had been born alive or had been miscarried or aborted.
One of them, a girl, was apparently newborn and extremely well preserved, according to transatlantic sources.
She had thick brown hair and her arms lay by her sides while her legs were folded up to her chest.
The other baby was much smaller and in worse condition. It is believed it could have been a foetus or born prematurely.
There were no signs of trauma to the babies.
Law officers in the States have now said they believe the trunk belonged to a Janet M. Barrie, who emigrated to the US from Scotland in the mid-1920s and was a nurse in Los Angeles.
She died in the 1990s having worked for, and then married, dentist George Knapp.DNA testsHe is understood to have died in 1968, after which his widow moved to Vancouver and investigators who have tracked down relatives of Ms Barrie in Canada are now awaiting DNA tests.
Angus historian and Peter Pan authority Sandra Affleck said her knowledge of the Barrie family tree did not point to there being a lady of that name closely connected to the writer.
“It doesn’t rule out the possibility, people in those days had huge families, but I think this is just an example of people trying to find something that isn’t there,” she said.
“Barrie was 70 in the 1930s and he was unable to have children. He was not a straightforward character, but neither was he wicked or inappropriate.
“It seems that if someone is successful but, at times a figure of some controversy, then there will always be this type of interest.”
Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck said it was important to continue investing resources into the case.
“Justice, even when delayed, is still justice,” said Mr Beck.