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Mystery Maine Boy's Mother Confesses to Killing

By Robin Enos on May 19, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Julianne McCrery has confessed to killing her 6-year-old son, then dumping his body along a rural road near South Berwick, Maine.

The 6-year-old, referred to prior to identification as the Mystery Maine Boy, was Camden Pierce Hughes, reports ABC News.

McCrery, of Irving, Texas, told Massachusetts State Police after they questioned her at a roadside stop near Chelmsford, Mass., that she had killed her son. She also said she wanted to kill herself.

"At 10:20 this morning, we received a call from a citizen who had seen prior coverage of this investigation...we responded with several troopers there and engaged...the lone occupant of the vehicle and that's why we're here now," said David Procopio, of Massachusetts State Police, reports ABC News.

Police first questioned McCrery at a roadside rest area, while McCrery was sitting in her blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The truck matched alerts sent out after Camden's body was discovered last week.

McCrery told police she accidentally gave her son too much cough syrup, reports ABC.

The New Hampshire State Attorney's office is handling the investigation, Procopio announced. Procopio declined to say why New Hampshire authorities took responsibility for the case, reports ABC.

McCrery remains in Massachusetts State Police custody. She has undergone a "medical evaluation" at a Concord, Mass., hospital. No results of that evaluation have been released, reports Associated Press.

This developing story has yet to make clear whether Julianne McCrery has been arrested, and no charges have yet been filed.

The Mystery Maine Boy found near South Berwick, Maine, may have a name. But the mystery of his death has yet to reveal its final scene.

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