An open letter to the mother of Baby Carrie
29 Aug 2003
From Detective Chief Inspector Roy McComb
To the Mother of Baby Carrie
This time last year we buried your daughter at Knockbreda Cemetery after her remains were discovered in March 2002 on Duck Walk in Carryduff, near the Lough Moss Centre.
Hundreds of people from across Belfast come to pay their respects to your little girl, a child that they have all come to know as baby Carrie.
You may not have chosen that name for your daughter and may still think of her with a different name and in a different place. But I know you will not have forgotten her.
You may well still be thinking of her as a new born baby and how she looked when she was first born.
Carrie would have been about 16 months old now, walking better and talking more each day; behaving like any other happy toddler.
I know you will be thinking about your daughter, no matter how hard you may try not to. A gravestone marks her last resting place but I know it won't mark her last memory in your mind. I know you will be thinking about her often.
I really believe that you cared enough about your daughter that you wanted her body to be found and for her to receive the Christian funeral that she eventually received. I hope you saw all that we did for your daughter in dignifying her short life. I believe this is what you wanted to do for her but couldn’t because of your circumstances; circumstances that I don’t yet fully know about.
I know that you have a long story to tell me. I also believe that the burden of not being able to tell someone is taking its toll on your well-being. I think you need to unburden yourself and I will listen to you. Now is time for you to end this nightmare.
I want you to contact someone you trust. I want you to tell that person your story. I will meet you at any time, in any place, and with any other person, and I will listen to your story.
Be clear on this point – I am not accusing you of any crime but you have a story to tell and I will listen.
Please tell someone this story, for your sake, and in the memory of your little girl who we call Carrie.
Roy McComb
0845 600 8000
