MADISON COUNTY, Texas – It has been eight years since the body of a little girl was found inside a suitcase on a property off Interstate 45 near Madisonville.
On Thursday, the FBI and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office released a new facial reconstruction image of the girl, hoping for answers as to who left her body on the property.
KPRC 2 Reporter Corley Peel spoke with the man who found the suitcase back in September 2016.
Tim Waldrip says he was mowing the pastures on the property when he came upon the suitcase.
“I kind of rolled over the suitcase and it kind of turned over and that’s what got my attention. And so I went out and tried to figure out what it was and opened it up and found a body inside,” he said.
Before opening the suitcase and discovering the body, Waldrip said he thought the suitcase might have come off a vehicle traveling down Interstate 45. He says he was trying to see if there was any identification on the suitcase so he could contact the owner when he made the disturbing discovery.
“When I started opening it up and going through it, I could smell something. I figured an animal had gotten in there and passed away, but I took out more stuff and the smell got worse and there was a plastic bag in there,” he said.
Inside the bag was the body of the girl who became known as “Baby Madison.”
Waldrip believes the suitcase was placed there because it was right up against a fence line. He learned the suitcase may have been on his property for between three to five months before it was found.
“That didn’t surprise me, because when you have some of these pastures, we don’t get them (mow) till summer or a little after and so we was pretty tall by then in this pasture,” he said.
The girl was found wearing a size 4T pink long-sleeve dress from the brand “Mon Petit,” decorated with butterflies and the words “Follow Your Dreams,” along with a size 4 diaper. She also had a feeding tube, indicating she likely required specialized medical care.
Waldrip says he is surprised there have been no answers regarding who dropped the suitcase off because of that.
“I actually assumed it was going to be found real quick because of the feeding tube,” he said. “So usually, you figured they could trace it or something. That’s why I don’t believe the child’s from around here, because there’s no way you got a kid that has a feeding tube that goes missing and somebody doesn’t know about it.”
Waldrip says he is praying for answers as the case continues cold.
“I still think about it a lot,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll say a little prayer to myself and it’s tough... I hope they can find where the child was from, so they can piece together what happened and give everybody some peace of mind and let the child have a place to rest.”
Anyone with details is asked to contact the Madison County Sheriff’s Office at (936) 348-2755 ext. 322 or the FBI Bryan Resident Agency.