Grave exhumed in McHenry Township didn't solve 60-year-old mystery of body found in Fox River

Exhumation of a McHenry County gravesite this week only deepened a 60-year-old mystery: Who was the young Black boy found in the Fox River on April 24, 1963?

County Coroner Michael Rein confirmed a judge approved the exhumation of a grave at Ostend Cemetery west of McHenry. He wouldn't say what the dig there Tuesday might have revealed to investigators.

But late Wednesday evening, after the coroner's office closed, Rein issued a news release confirming officials indeed were looking for the remains of the boy who died under questionable circumstances six decades ago.

Rein, however, also confirmed the search was unsuccessful.

"After a thorough research and exploration of all evidence of Ostend Cemetery, an area of the cemetery was identified as a high probability of where the boy was buried. The exhumation proved not to be of a child in the unmarked grave but of another individual, according to forensic anthropologist on the scene," according to the coroner's release.

Amanda Helma began researching the tiny cemetery in 2021, and her curiosity about it reopened the long-cold and largely forgotten mystery of the young boy. She believes his June 1963 burial, which according to news reports at the time was paid for by donations from McHenry and Nunda townships, was the last interment performed there.

Helma began digging into burial records and newspaper clippings in 2021, finding articles about the discovery of a boy, estimated to be 6 or 7 years old, and the prior search for his identity. She shared his story in a December 2021 letter to the editor, asking for help to find his name and tell his story.

Others jumped in. Doug Peterson read her published letter, and began a GoFundMe for a headstone.

Before the outcome of Tuesday's dig was announced, Peterson told the Northwest Herald that enough money was raised to pay for a headstone, but that supporters were waiting for a name to place on it.

"We have been waiting to see what is going to happen," Peterson said. "It is unmarked, but the headstone has been paid for. We didn't know what to put on it yet. It remains 'Unknown Child.'"

After a Northwest Herald story on Helma's and Peterson's fundraising efforts, the coroner's office "reopened the case as an active investigation," Helma was told. "People started asking questions and got the ball rolling."

Helma and others organizing the headstone drive had talked about the possibility of an exhumation, but she had a hard time believing it would ever happen. The cemetery records were incomplete "and we don't have a whole accurate picture of where he was buried," she said.

Rein told the Northwest Herald early last year that exhuming a body is "typically done in very ... unusual circumstances" but that it was possible in the case of the boy's 1963 death. He said his staff might also speak to experts such as genealogists and anthropologists to determine whether an exhumation might be worthwhile.

Helma hoped, perhaps through genetic genealogy, the boy could be identified.

According to news reports, the boy was found by children in the water near the McHenry dam, wrapped in a red chenille bedspread, possibly tied with a strand of Christmas lights. He was dressed only in a white cotton shirt and a gray sweater and, despite reportedly being covered in bruises and lacerations, his cause of death was ruled bronchial pneumonia.

After the boy's death, officials sent his body to the Cook County medical examiner in an attempt to identify him, and a Black newspaper in Chicago offered a $1,000 reward to identify the boy. No one came forward.

Finally, he was buried June 6, 1963.

Activity at the gravesite Tuesday prompted widespread speculation on social media about what was happening at the cemetery.

The coroner didn't specify what next steps are planned, only that his office "is continuing to work closely with the McHenry County sheriff, McHenry Township and all other agencies during this case."

Helman said earlier this week she's "excited for when we can place (the headstone) down somewhere. He has a name, he has a face and a story."

While disappointed the boy was not found this week, Helma said she has not given up hope that the gravesite can be located.

"It is a long road, but we are one step closer than we were yesterday," Helma said.