Unknown toddler laid to rest in Wheaton

His family never came forward to claim him, but a community stepped up to make sure an unidentified toddler wasn't forgotten.

A solemn crowd of about 100 mourners gathered today to bury a little boy they never knew and remember a short life that brought out the most tragic and uplifting sides of humanity.

In an emotional eulogy, the Revs. Andrew Nielo and Ron Yurcus reassured police, deputy coroners and other mourners -- including dozens of strangers -- that the child whose body was found abandoned two years ago in DuPage County is now safe.

"(He) did so much in his short life," Yurcus said. "Look how many people have gathered here today. He's moved so many people, in so many different ways, without ever saying a word.

"He may be unknown, but he's not forgotten. He may be unknown, but he's not lacking in love, because there's plenty of love here."

The unidentified boy, who some call Johnny Doe, was buried during a service at Assumption Cemetery in Wheaton. The ceremony came two years after a man walking his dog discovered the boy's remains near Warrenville.

Madeline Gapastione, of Bartlett, attended the service with two of her eight children. A grandmother of 31, Gapastione said she would have gladly taken this child in as one of her own. Her daughters agreed.

"Just being a mother of five, they don't leave the house without me hugging and kissing them," said Lisa Cusumano of Carol Stream. "How could someone just leave him by the road like that?"

At 2 p.m. today, a gray hearse carrying the tiny white casket pulled to the gravesite. As Naperville police Sgt. Brian Cunningham played the bagpipes, an Arlington Heights-based chapter of the Knights of Columbus stood nearby in full uniform. The pallbearers included DuPage Sheriff John Zaruba and Coroner Peter Siekmann. At the end of the solemn ceremony, mourners hummed during a final lullaby.

The boy, believed to be 3 or 4 and of either Hispanic or American Indian descent, was found Oct. 8, 2005, near Ferry Road and Meadow Drive in unincorporated Naperville Township. His decomposing body was in a laundry bag.

For two years, the DuPage County sheriff and coroner's offices have investigated the boy's identity and the circumstances of his death. An autopsy could not determine the cause of death.

The sheriff's office put out alerts across the country and chased more than 100 leads, but none proved solid enough to provide a resolution.

"It's very frustrating," sheriff's Detective John Gradus said. "You follow up on all the leads and put in all the man hours, but still there's no answers. When it involves a child, it hits even closer to home."

Coroner Siekmann said in his 31 years on the job he has never seen a case quite like this in DuPage. Though the child's remains were buried, officials said they have all the forensic evidence they need to identify his parents should their names ever be learned.

"It's very, very difficult," the coroner said, "but it's time that he get a respectable burial."

The Diocese of Joliet donated the cemetery plot for the boy. Funeral arrangements were handled by the DuPage County Funeral Directors Association.