Child Erased

In 1951, a little boy was found dead in Goochland County, Virginia. And that was just the beginning of this tragedy that continues today

This story was updated on 12/09/2022 to reflect a few new developments in this case. These updates are inserted in their appropriate locations in the story.

If you have any information about this case, please email Dale Brumfield at dalebrumfield@protonmail.com.

SEVENTY YEARS AGO, ON MARCH 5, 1951, the decomposed body of an estimated five-year-old boy was found stuffed in a blue denim army duffel bag just south of U.S. 250 near Oilville Virginia, about 26 miles west of Richmond. This little boy was never identified. His mode of death was never publicly divulged. Unbelievably, he was never reported missing and his body never claimed.

Today, his identity and death remain shrouded in secrecy.

On that cloudy and chilly March morning, Virginia highway employees were cleaning litter from ditches along State Route 670, which runs south from State Route 250 near Oilville to Crozier. At about 8:30 a.m., an employee, Richard Salmon, discovered about 15 feet from the road in a stand of young pine trees a blue army-style sack with what appeared to be the head of a young boy protruding from it.