Baby Discovered Buried in Backyard of Incestuous Parents: Police

Police in North Carolina discovered a deceased infant buried in a couple's backyard over the weekend.

Dustin VanDyke, 28, and Gracie Riddle, 18, were charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of their baby.

The remains were discovered after police received a tip from a family member on Friday night of an unreported death. The age and gender of the infant have not been released.

A family member told WRAL that VanDyke and Riddle are allegedly related and "panicked" when they discovered Riddle was pregnant.

Filicide

Filicide occurs when a child is killed by a parent, with the majority of murders occurring within the first year of a child's life—called infanticide.

According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, about 2.5 percent of all homicide arrests in America are parents who killed their children—or about 500 per year.

Of all filicides, 90 percent are perpetrated by biological parents and 10 percent by a stepparent. Studies have also found that female perpetrators often commit filicide within the first year of life while men often target older children.

'Needed to Talk'

Police said they believe the family member who called knew about the situation but waited until now to report the crime, WRAL reported.

"I think this person just finally got to the point to where their conscience got to him and they decided they needed to talk about it and tell someone and that's how we initially got the report," Erwin Chief of Police Jonathan Johnson told WRAL.

Police obtained a search warrant and a cadaver K-9 located the infant in the backyard. Officers said they believe the baby has been deceased since last Thanksgiving.

Both VanDyke and Riddle are scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Newsweek reached out to the Erwin Police Department for comment.

Other Filicides

On August 6, a Florida couple was arrested after allegedly beating their 6-year-old son to death for drinking out of the toilet.

"The child was transported to the hospital where he was placed on life-support for life-threatening injuries," Osceola County Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez said. "Throughout our investigation, it was learned the child was drinking from the toilet, but that had nothing to do with why he wasn't breathing."

In April, two Georgia parents were charged with murder in the death of their 4-week-old infant who was given alcohol in a baby bottle.

A 10-year-old Michigan boy was also killed after his mother allegedly committed a murder-suicide. Police initially described the incident as a "nightmare situation" and said the child was at the hospital in extremely critical condition before his death.

Updated 08/22/2022, at 2:08 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.