New Hampshire authorities are continuing to investigate who killed a Nashua infant five years ago.
The death of 4-month-old Luna Champagne in 2017 has been ruled a homicide, the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office said publicly Tuesday.
The baby girl was rushed to the hospital from her parents' Nashua home on February 16, 2017. She was taken to a Massachusetts hospital, where she died several days later.
Investigators said Luna suffered traumatic head injuries.
"It's horrendous, and extremely sad," neighbor Marc Plamondon said Wednesday.
The autopsy report took four years to complete, with officials determining the death was a homicide last year.
"Whenever you have autopsies that occur out of state, there's always some delay," Associate Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin said.
When the baby died, it was around the same time the Massachusetts Medical Examiner's Office was trying to catch up on a backlog of cases and had recently come under fire for how long it was taking to complete children's autopsies.
"Generally speaking, factors like COVID, resources, complexity of the case — it's not uncommon with autopsies that they may have to do additional studies or consult with other experts — all those things together can result in additional delay," Strelzin said.
Now, a year after receiving the autopsy report, investigators are at a loss.
"We thought it made sense to put the information out and see if anybody in the public recalls anything," Strelzin said.
The family no longer lives at the Nashua address, but investigators say they know where the family and all the potential witnesses are currently. They won't comment on any family history.
Plamondon hopes someone remembers a clue.
"It's really up to residents, neighbors, to keep their eyes open," he said.
The Massachusetts Medical Examiner's Office, which conducted the autopsy, said it doesn't comment on individual cases, deferring to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.
Anyone with information about Luna's death or who spent any time with her while she was alive is asked to call the Nashua Police Crimeline at 603-589-1665.
