Coroner: Mummified Baby Found In Fla. Storage Unit Died Of Undetermined Cause

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ A partially mummified baby, apparently born in the 1950s and discovered by a woman cleaning out her dead parents' storage unit, died of an ``undetermined'' cause,

Monday, March 19th 2007, 9:49 pm

By: News On 6

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ A partially mummified baby, apparently born in the 1950s and discovered by a woman cleaning out her dead parents' storage unit, died of an ``undetermined'' cause, a coroner said Monday.

The unidentified boy was found Jan. 22 by the daughter of an elderly couple who rented the Delray Beach storage unit in 1996. The man died several years ago, and the woman died last year, according to police.

``We don't know what the cause and the manner of death is with the child,'' Palm Beach County Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Bell said. ``We have no way of knowing whether the child was stillborn or born alive.''

Odette Lamanna, 46, was cleaning out the unit with her husband when she discovered the body.

The child was discovered wrapped in a Jan. 9, 1957, edition of the New York Daily News and stuffed inside a small suitcase that was inside a larger suitcase.

The child was determined to be between a newborn and 2 months old and had no sign of injuries, Bell said.

Authorities are awaiting results of DNA tests to determine whether the baby was related to the woman who discovered him.