42-year-old Julianne McCrery from Irving, Texas is being held in connection with the death of her 6-year-old son, Camden Pierce Hughes.
The boy's body was found Saturday, May 14th, in South Berwick, Maine.
McCrery's truck was found and towed at a rest area on Highway 495 on Wednesday morning.
The truck found was a blue four-door Toyota pickup truck with Texas license plates, with a license frame bearing the words "Navy Mom," and "U.S. Navy." A witness had told Maine police about a blue pickup truck believed driven by a woman was seen near where the child's body, and may have had a Navy insignia.
When You Wake Up." McCrery's author page on Amazon.com, written in 2009, states: "Julianne McCrery was born in San Jose, Ca. in 1969. She has made her home Dallas, Texas since the early 80's. She enjoys two sons, one who serves in the U.S. Navy and the other one much younger aged three and a half years. Driving a school bus and then somehow graduating to a cement mixer certainly gave her character beyond her years, and a definite need for a good night's sleep!"
A 2009 YouTube video features a 30-second review of her book. The speaker is not shown. Five other videos on the same channel show family videos of a young boy bearing a striking resemblance to the computer image of the dead boy released by Maine State Police.
UPDATE: McCrery has confessed to killing her son, a Boston television station is reporting. Julianne McCrery's mother says that she had spoken with her daughter all week long by phone. She (mother) stated "Julie" said that she and Camden had been sick all week and wished she could go and visit. Julianne and her mother spoke yesterday morning and talked about idle "chit-chat", but then stated that it was "funny" that Julie texted her early yesterday evening stating that she wished she could come to dinner. Julianne's mother offered to buy them dinner, but only received a text reply, simply, "Thank-you".
According to WHDH-TV, McCrery and her son drove from Texas to Maine. McCrery has confessed to driving from Texas to kill her son, according to sources.
McCrery has been taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation and has not been charged with a crime, said David Procopio, director of communications for Massachusetts State Police.
UPDATE 5/19/2011 8:40 a.m.: Michael A. Delaney, Attorney General, has issued a press release on the case. On May 15, 2011, Maine’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Margaret Greenwald, performed an autopsy on the deceased child. Her preliminary findings are that the cause of death is asphyxiation and the manner of death is homicide, however her final determination is pending further studies.
Julianne McCrery (42) has been formally charged with second degree murder.
Little Camden was a student at WT Hanes Elementary School in Irving.
