"We are still actively looking for the mother," said Tpr. Gerald N. Sauers, PA State Police.

On Wednesday, December 31, 2003 at approximately 3:30 p.m. children at the Sycamore Amish School on Weaver Road were preparing to leave school for their New year break when one child found a newborn baby inside a large burn barrel on the school property. The child was in a plastic bag. A few days earlier, on December 26, 2003, evidence was discovered at the Turkey Hill in Strasburg Borough on Decatur Street which may be linked to the birth and/or murder of the infant. The store is about three miles away from the school.

The coroner, then Dr. Barry Walp, pronounced Baby Allison dead at 5 p.m. that new Year's Eve. Medically speaking, the six-pound female child was full-term. The umbilical cord was still attached. Officials have stated they believe she was born alive then died. Dr. Gary Kirchner replaced Dr. Walp as Lancaster County Coroner in January 2004. In March, Kirchner released a disturbing fact - the child's throat had been slit.

It has been determined, through genetic profiling and other medical tests, that the newborn is white, of European Ancestry. She was not the product of incest. It is highly unlikely, said Tpr. Sauers in a released statement last year, less than three-percent that the mother was of the Plain Sect.

Tpr. Sauers recently explained that, from a historical perspective, the mom was most likely a young girl, under 20, from the local area. The get from the Turkey Hill in the Borough out to the school the person, or persons, would have also have had access to a vehicle. The police are also interested in identifying the father as well.

On January 13, 2004, Baby Allison was buried at the Conestoga Memorial Park in Lancaster Township in a burial plot donated by an anonymous individual. Earlier this year, WGAL's Susan Shapiro identified that individual as Lester Cramer, a grandfather of five.

Police are still actively looking for the baby's mother. Investigators are asking for anyone with knowledge of a female who was pregnant at that time and does not have the child or cannot account for the child's whereabouts. Anyone with information is asked to call the State Police at 717-299-7650. PA Crimestoppers is offering a $2000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in this case. That number is 1-800 4PA-TIPS.

Baby Allison, sadly enough, has become a statistic. Even more sadly, she has not been Lancaster County's only throw away baby.

In 1990, a young juvenile girl was arrested after her baby was found in Leacock Township. That baby - a boy - was found wrapped in grocery bags.

In May of 1993, a baby was found in the Susquehanna River near the Holtwood Dam. A 16 year old girl, with family ties to the Holtwood area, later pled guilty to criminal homicide and criminal conspiracy and is serving life without parole, according to State Police Cpl John Dube, the lead investigator in that case. Melissa Ann McManus admitted to the suffocation and abandonment of her baby boy.

More recently, on September 24, 2007 a baby girl - dubbed Baby Mary Anne - was found in a dumpster in Lancaster City.