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Mary I. Jumbelic, MD
Cook County Institute of Forensic Medicine Chicago, Ill

JAMA. 1990;264(11):1407.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.—

We agree with Dr Helmuth's astute observation that livor mortis is present on the back of the infant in the photograph in our article. Lividity was not seen at the time the infant was found in the bucket but developed after the body was placed in a supine position overnight. The photograph was taken the day after death to demonstrate the circumstances at the time of the infant's death. It also illustrates how these 5-gallon containers do not tip over with the infant inside, even when empty.

As forensic pathologists, we are always suspicious of deaths in children, even in the context of apparent accidents. We investigate the circumstances of death and perform thorough autopsies. All of the infants in our study died of accidental drowning, with no evidence of homicide.

We appreciate the comments of Dr Hyma and agree that these 5-gallon containers represent an unsuspected . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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