An autopsy report stated the boy — who has yet to be identified — died of an “electrolyte imbalance” that was likely caused by the stomach flu, Indiana police said Friday.
The child, who is considered to be about 5-years-old, was clothed and clean when he was discovered by a mushroom hunter in Washington County woods on April 16, police declared. No trauma was seen on his body and a toxicology report came back negative. Detectives acknowledge he was already dead when he was crammed inside the hard-shell suitcase with a Las Vegas design on the front and back.
Police said he presumably died less than a week before the suitcase was found.
A national tip line has been inducted. Police say they have received nearly 200 calls from the public, but none have led to the identification of the boy.
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"Investigators are thankful for all the tips that are coming in but ask that the public does not send information on children already documented as missing at this time. Investigators say those cases are already being looked into," ISP stated.
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ISP Sgt. Carey Huls told ABC affiliate WHAS-TV that the vast majority of calls the agency has received have to do with a missing person from Virginia.
"We're well aware of that case. It's not a match — and a lot of people are giving that information. What we're asking for is not tips for already-documented missing children who are already on a website someplace. We're well aware of those. We're asking for those tips that might come in about somebody who has not been reported," Huls expressed.
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Huls said the suitcase was sealed and was about 80 feet from the roadway when it was found.
The boy was about 4-feet-tall with a slim build and short haircut, according to cops. “Investigators continue to utilize a variety of investigative techniques and have worked with several outside agencies during this investigation,” the state police reported. “Although numerous tips have been called into the nationwide tip line, detectives have not been able to identify the boy. Investigators are not ruling out the possibility that the child could be from out of state or even out of the country.”
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Indiana State Police Sgt. Carey Huls, during a press conference, bluntly stated, “somebody knows something,” USA Today reported.
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“He didn’t put himself in that suitcase. Somebody did,” Huls said, according to the outlet. “Somebody out there has firsthand knowledge on what happened in the situation ... and we need that person to come forward.”
The boy’s funeral will be next week in Salem, Indiana, and planned by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.
“This little boy wasn’t respected in life and we, Washington County, want to make sure he’s respected in death,” Todd Murphy, the sheriff’s department’s chaplain, said, according to USA Today.
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