Finding mother of dead baby is key to the case, police say

Police are treating the death of the baby as a homicide.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- Police are trying to contact a woman they believe may be the mother of an infant found dead in a township home over the weekend.
Police Chief Steve Lamantia said his detectives are looking for the woman, who is in her 20s, for questioning.
"We are hoping to have this resolved soon," Lamantia said.
Police reports and Trumbull County 911 records state that Anthony B. Lentine Jr., 8311 Brookwood Drive N.E., called the center at 5:16 p.m. Saturday to report that he had found what he believed to be a dead infant inside a garbage bag in his home.
Lentine could not be reached to comment.
Lamantia said three adults live at the home but none are of child-bearing age.
Want answers: The chief noted that a relative of the family, who does not live at the home, is the woman police want to question. The woman lives in the state, but Lamantia declined to say where.
Officials said Lentine was cleaning his house when he found a garbage bag in one of his closets. Officials said the infant was found inside.
"We do not know the cause of death at this time," Lamantia said. "This could have been a natural death. We do not know."
Police officials said they believe the baby, which was badly decomposed, had been in the bag for about a year. They couldn't determine its gender or age.
"This is very tragic, and we want to find out what happened," Lamantia said.
He noted that because police do not know how the baby died, they are treating the death as a homicide.
Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, a forensic pathologist with the Trumbull County Coroner's Office, autopsied the infant this weekend. A spokeswoman there said results are pending.